


She Don't Got a Lot to Say, but There's Somethong About Her

by MidoriAkiko



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, F/F, Not a typo, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 42,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22769272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriAkiko/pseuds/MidoriAkiko
Summary: Seulgi's finally landed a gig with National Geographic, photographing a medical team as they work to contain a contagious virus in Madagascar. It's the stepping stone she needs to push her into the upper echelons of photography.But the head of said medical team is the infamous Dr. Irene Bae. She's as stern as she is efficient, and Seulgi's just trying to do her work and not get caught in one of her glares. It's going alright until one night, when she sees somethong she shouldn't.Give it a chance. It might be punny.
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Kang Seulgi
Comments: 30
Kudos: 119





	1. Too Legit to Quit

If you had asked Seulgi three weeks ago if this was the happiest she’d ever been, the answer would’ve been a resounding “yes!” She would’ve looked at you with her eyes shrinking into little half moons; her face revealing a big grin as she told you how excited she was to finally fulfill one of her life’s goals.

But that was three weeks ago. Three weeks ago when she had no idea what her future really held, only the flimsy idealized notion that she was going to _finally_ make her mark on the world. 

For any adventure photographer, landing a gig with National Geographic was the equivalent of making the Major Leagues. She had a bucket list of goals, and this gig would be the first of many as she attempted to establish herself in the world of photography.

Seulgi had scrambled to coordinate her logistics and prepare her team in the short amount of time given (less than a week), and pack all the necessary items so that she could make this the best shoot ever.

But this was all before everything got flipped upside down harder than the end of a bad Monopoly game. 

Before she met _her._

_Dr. Bae._

_Dr. Irene Bae_

She remembered the sheer giddiness threatening to bubble over when she stepped off the plane for the first time.

* * *

“Yo Seulgi!” 

A camera lens swung into her face, less than 6 inches from her nose.

“Ya! What are you doing, Joy?” she scolded, pushing the camera away from her. “We haven’t officially started working.”

“I thought I’d document our journey, you know, for our memories,” Joy shrugged. 

Seulgi pursed her lips, but accepted the notion with a nod of her head. Joy was the videographer on the team anyway.

“You need to record the memories because your brain’s too small to hold any of them,” a voice said from behind them.

“Shut up, Yeri,” Joy retorted. 

Seulgi pursed her lips again at the bickering duo, but her happy mood wasn’t the least bit dampened by their arguing. In fact, it only made it funnier when you looked at them.

Joy was the tallest in their trio, at least a couple of inches taller than Seulgi, who was almost three inches taller than Yeri. Joy’s long hair threatened Yeri’s eyesight as she towered over her and it fell into her eyes. 

Soon, their arguing dulled into white noise and Seulgi wasn’t actually paying attention to them anymore. 

As they set up their base camp, Seulgi was pretty sure they were still arguing, but again, she had no idea about what anymore. It wasn’t until she heard Yeri call for her that she even started listening again.

“Yo, Boss Lady!”

Seulgi blinked at looked towards the other girl. Yeri looked pretty irritated. Nevertheless, Seulgi thought it was still necessary to point out, “I’ve told you not to call me that.”

“Why not?” Yeri huffed. “That’s what you are.”

“Yeri-”

“Fine, _KkangSeul.”_

“That’s not much better-”

“Whatever,” Yeri said with a dismissive wave. “I was trying to ask you what the schedule is for the week. How do you want me to prep the gear?”

Yeri was the equipment manager on the team, as well as Seulgi’s assistant in, well, everything. She did the boom mics if necessary, prepped the tripods and cameras, uploaded the images and videos to servers and maintained the gear so that it was in tip top condition.

Seulgi was a little apprehensive to hire such a young person for the job, but the young woman had proven herself more than capable. 

“I’m not sure actually. The information I was given just said to be ready to go on a short notice and be ready for anything.”

“That’s not even a real itinerary,” Yeri facepalmed.

“Are you sure this is legit?” Joy asked. “I mean, I’d hate to die Mada- _freaking_ -gascar just because my beautiful-but-obviously-shit-at-planning boss didn’t read the yelp reviews on whoever hired her.”

“Hey!” Seulgi exclaimed. “This was definitely legit. It had the National Geographic header! It’s even in conjunction with the South Korean _and_ Canadian government. It’s a joint project.”

“What exactly are we doing here though?” Yeri asked. “I don’t even know what our objective is. Your text just said, ‘Gig for 3 week song in jingle. NatGeo documentary.’ That’s a really long time to be singing.”

“Wait, what?” Seulgi exclaimed. She quickly pulled up her messages and scrolled. “Oh Jesus. That’s supposed to be a ‘doc in jungle.’ How the fuck did that happen?”

“Oh well that makes sense,” Yeri shrugged. “I really thought this would be the worst musical ever.”

“Anyway,” Seulgi coughed. “We’re here to follow a team from the South Korean CDC as they follow some new virus making its way through the population. Supposed to be something similar to Ebola but not as bad.”

“HOLD UP.” Joy froze and turned to Seulgi with an intense stare. “You’re saying you brought us to an Ebola-infected country and didn’t tell us?”

“ _Not. As. Bad_ ,” Seulgi emphasized, squeezing her fingers to emphasize the emphasis.

“Oh no fuck this Seul.” Joy started throwing items in her bags in a haphazard attempt to pack. “I love you and all but this is bat shit.”

“Yo, maybe that’s why the job was so last minute,” Yeri said thoughtfully, seemingly unaffected by Seulgi’s revelation. “Everybody else turned it down because they didn’t want to die.”

_She has a point,_ Seulgi thought.

“Wait a minute though,” Seulgi said aloud. “Chairman Kim said he’s going to be here. If it were really that bad, why would the guy funding it come himself?”

“Uhh, cause he’s crazy?” Joy supplied, not pausing in her packing.

“He also said we can’t leave for twelve weeks once we land.”

“WHAT?”

“We can’t leave?!”

“You said three weeks!”

“That was another typo,” Seulgi said unapologetically. “And we can’t leave because we’ve entered a restricted area. The travel ban doesn’t lift until twelve weeks from now.”

“I should’ve packed more underwear,” Yeri sighed.

Joy slumped into a nearby seat, the items falling out of her limp hands. 

“Hope this place has a shit ton of alcohol at least.”

As if sensing their need for a distraction, Seulgi’s phone pinged. She picked it up and read through the message. It was from Choi Minho, the expedition guide, and from what Seulgi had learned so far, a man of few words, yet serious action.

“Be ready for pick up at 14:00 hours. Base camp location has been moved. Full staff briefing to follow.”

“Oh at least I had already kind of started repacking,” Joy said, motioning to the messy duffel she had thrown things into.

“What time is 14:00 in people hours?” Seulgi asked.

“2:00pm Boss Lady,” Yeri replied, which earned her a frown in response.

“That’s thirty minutes from now.”

“Guess we better pack fast,” Yeri said with a bored shrug.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, they were sitting in the back row of a passenger van, squished between their luggage and each other. In the row in front of them, a tall, broad-shouldered man sat next to another man with not quite as much shoulder. In the front, from what Seulgi could see, two more males sat, but that was all she could make out. As the van rumbled down the bumpy dirt road, the short man turned around to face them.

“Hey,” he said with a smile. His face told her he was young, twenty-two tops, and he reminded her of an over energetic puppy. “We’re the Canadians.” He gestured to himself and his companion with a thumb.

“Hi,” Joy responded with a smile. She always was much better than Seulgi at first impressions. “We’re the Koreans. I’m Joy, this is Seulgi and that’s Yeri.” She motioned to each of them in turn.

“I’m Mark,” the puppy boy replied, “and this is Johnny.” The Johnny boy gave a little two finger wave that screamed ‘I’m trying to be cool in front of this pretty lady but I’m not sure if I’m doing it right.’

Mark continued. “The guy driving is Henry,” who gave a little “Wassup,” without ever taking his eyes off the road. “He’s Canadian too. The guy in the passenger seat is--”

“Didbidibidis,” the man said abruptly. 

“Sorry, what was that?” Joy said.

“My name is Minho,” he said in a low voice, quite stoic compared to everyone else in the van.

“Oh!” Seulgi spoke up. “Choi Minho-ssi! You’re the guide I’ve been in contact with.”

He nodded. Now that she’d met her mysterious contact, Seulgi noticed he was quite handsome, even with his dour attitude. He was probably a hit with all the ladies with that tsundere shtick. If she were into that. Which she wasn’t. A quick glance at Yeri and how the usually disinterested girl had suddenly sat up a bit straighter told her her intuition was spot on.

“Hey Minho-hyung,” Mark called. “How much longer till we get there? And how come we had to move after we set up?”

“It’s another ten kilometers. Everything will be explained there.”

Seulgi sat back, resting her head against the seat. Based on her estimations, they had at least a fifteen minutes remaining, and the bumpy ride was acting like a cheap massage chair. She closed her eyes.

* * *

When she woke, they had pulled into a hastily assembled compound. White tarpaulin walls lined the entire complex, which also featured a guard tower. There were armed soldiers and medical staff in biohazard suits and businessmen in regular suits and Seulgi wasn’t quite sure what to make of everything.

“Are you sure you didn’t sign us up for the army?” Joy whispered in her ear. 

Seulgi shook her head.

“What about signing us up as lab experiments?”

“No.”

“Sold our organs?”

“No.”

“What about--”

“Why don’t we just wait for this briefing that will tell us whether or not I royally fucked up?” Seulgi asked in frustration, running a hand through her hair.

Joy shrugged. “Fair enough.”

The van parked, and Minho motioned them into the largest tent of all. Upon entering, Seulgi realized it wasn’t a tent at all, but more akin to a small airplane hangar in sturdiness. It had a metal structure and was the epitome of sterility. Everything was white and looked like it was sanitized every hour on the hour. There were tables lined up like a lecture hall with a giant projector screen at the front. Seulgi took a seat on the far right, and her companions followed suit.

Minho stood in front of them and spoke. “We are waiting for the rest of the staff to join us. The medical staff that you will be working alongside with, as well as the people who are in charge of the administration duties. Please wait here for the time being.”

As Seulgi looked around, Joy started talking to someone.

“So if you’re not the medical staff, what do you guys do?” She was talking to Mark and Johnny again.

“Oh, we’re the logistics crew. You know, get you where you need to go, get you what you need to get kinda thing.”

_That sounds really broad and vague,_ Seulgi thought to herself.

“That sounds really broad and vague,” Joy told the boys. People were starting to come in now, filling up the empty seats. Seulgi saw a variety of white coats, people in scrubs with stethoscopes around their necks, some men who looked like they belonged on Wall Street--

“Nah, we’re used to it,” Johnny spoke up. “We know how to get things done and improvise. That’s probably why they asked us. Cause we don’t need a lot to get the job done.” He beamed with pride as he said it.

“Yeah yeah,” Mark said, matching Johnny’s energy, “one time, we even--”

He froze, his mouth half open and words no longer coming out. His companion wore the same matching expression. Seulgi and Joy looked at each other in confusion, neither understanding what was going on. Finally, they traced the boys’ line of sight to someplace behind them, and after a second, Seulgi was quite sure her face mimicked the two boys.

Surrounded by a flurry of white coats and suits was the most beautiful person she’d ever seen. Red lips, an aquiline nose, doe eyes and hair that magically fell in the most perfect way possible.

“Holy shit,” Joy muttered from beside her.

“Eh?” Seulgi replied, trying to play off the pool of saliva that had gathered in her mouth.

“That woman is gorgeous?” Joy said incredulously, as if she couldn't believe she had to explain something like this to Seulgi. “Like, I know you can be slow on the uptake, but even you couldn’t have taken that long to see how hot she is.”

“Oh yeah,” Seulgi coughed, trying to play it cool. “Yeah she’s pretty.”

“Pretty?” Joy scoffed. “I’d let her examine me _anytime.”_

Seulgi frowned at her.

“What?” Joy said innocently.

“You’re straight.”

“I’m straight, not blind,” she said dramatically, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “And you’re not, so shouldn’t your panties be way more twisted now?”

“They are!” Seulgi said defensively, and a half second later, she realized the error of her statement, and in a hurry tried to save herself. “I mean, they’re not! She’s pretty, and I’m gay, but I don’t want her to _examine_ me or anything!” She waved her hands around for emphasis, but all of it was lost on Joy, who was bent over, clutching her sides in laughter.

If Seulgi hadn’t been trying so hard to save herself, she might’ve seen the object of their conversation pause and look in the direction of the ruckus, devoting three whole seconds and a quirked right eyebrow at her before quickly moving on like nothing had ever happened.

Seulgi continued her attempts at salvaging her self-lit disaster, and soon it became clear they were the only source of noise. They froze mid-sentence, and glanced around cautiously. Then, it became clear what had brought about the silence.

The beautiful doctor was striding to the front of the room, making her way towards the small podium set up in the center. The room was completely silent, and Seulgi had the nagging sense that they were all collectively holding their breaths. She couldn’t confirm it though, because her heart was thumping loud in her ears. A few blinks and quick breaths finally stabilized her enough to hear again.

“...for twelve weeks.” The gorgeous woman was speaking now, and her low tone caused a tingly feeling in Seulgi’s stomach. She spoke with an air of regality, meshed with grace. 

“Thank you all for being here. Our mission has great implications. Should we succeed, we will have discovered something truly groundbreaking, and it will put both of our countries at the forefront of Reveluviridae research.”

The woman’s face was devoid of any emotion. Her delivery was robotic, as if everything about her had been programmed not to feel emotion. And yet, Seulgi couldn’t help but stare at her. 

She understood where Joy and the guys were coming from; the woman was insanely beautiful, but if Seulgi was being honest with herself, the doctor was terrifying. 

It’s now that Seulgi realizes she’s seen this gorgeous face before. 

Years ago, she’d dislocated a finger. Pro tip: if you’re chasing moving wildlife and trying to take pictures of them, don’t hold the camera up to your face and block out all other vision. The events that followed led to her sitting in the emergency room for five hours. Since she wasn’t minutes, or even hours away from death, triage rules dictated she wait there forever. 

She began to get well acquainted with the hospital commercial being played every fifteen minutes. On multiple LCD screens around the hospital, it featured what Seulgi would swear was the most beautiful person in the world. She was convinced the woman was an actress because in what universe would that beauty have to slave over textbooks when she could just breathe and people would bow down to her? She also looked way too young to be a doctor, and unlike the person standing in front of her, was smiling brightly.

It wasn’t until then that the object of Seulgi’s study had turned in her direction and was now staring at her. 

As in directly at her. Like into her pupils. 

Seulgi’s eyes widened and in a panic she turned away. She felt her cheeks redden and she didn’t dare look up on the off chance the woman was still glaring at her. 

_See!_ she wanted to scold Joy. It didn’t matter how pretty the lady was if they’re going to die by her laser vision.

No longer distracted by the doctor’s top notch visuals, the words were coming in clear.

“In an effort to document every aspect of our mission, we will have a photo and video crew alongside the medical team. Both teams will be working directly alongside each other. Because of the risks we are going to be exposed to, all personnel are required to undergo biohazard and pathogen training tomorrow. I hope we have a successful time here together."

Seulgi clapped automatically when she heard the crowd applaud. Minho’s throat clearing signaled to her it was safe to look up, and she saw he had taken the center spot.

“Thank you all for being here. I know there has been some confusion due to some last minute changes, and for that, I apologize. We had an update earlier today that the nearby vicinity was experiencing an outbreak. We moved here in an effort to not only quarantine them, but also because early research can only be beneficial to our medical team.” He gave a small nod towards the gorgeous doctor before continuing.

“I have a few house rules to go over. Number one: your safety is the priority. No one is to engage in any activity that puts yourself or the team in any more risk than has already been discussed. I need not remind you how dangerous it is here already.”

Seulgi felt Joy pinch her side and didn’t need to look at her to know she was glaring at her.

“Number two,” Minho continued, “Dr. Bae and I are in charge of the geographical and medical logistics, every objective must be met with our approval.” He indicated the beautiful doctor. “We are not John Rambos or Dr. Houses here; we do things by the book. This is how no one dies. Is that clear?”

A murmur of assents rumbled through the crowd, but Seulgi had other thoughts.

_Dr. Bae._

_That was her name._

* * *

The next week went by fairly event-free and flew by; the training was a bit of a shitshow though. With Yeri spacing out and missing the sterilization steps and Joy shamelessly flirting with every single trainer, Seulgi was just glad they weren’t thrown into a quarantine cell. 

Her laptop lit up their small tent as she settled in for the evening. The days had become somewhat chaotic with its non-stop nature. The schedule more or less became: wake up at dawn, scarf down breakfast, jump into the van, ride to an unnamed village, follow around the medical squad, take pictures, get back in the van, eat dinner, sleep. Rinse, repeat. 

This evening was the first chance Seulgi had to review the images she’d taken. She glanced down at her camera.

_1643 images._

She sighed. It was going to be a long night. Next to her, Joy let out a similar sigh.

“What’s the count, unnie?” she asked Seulgi.

“1643. What about you?”

“Thirteen hours, forty-six minutes and thirty-eight seconds.” Joy moaned as she opened up the first clip.

Seulgi sipped her coffee. “Why don’t you get Yeri to help you sort the video?”

Joy rolled her eyes. “Please. She has a shorter attention span than me. Plus she uses most of her free time to video chat with Heechul back in Korea.”

“Oh, a girlfriend?” Seulgi said with mild interest.

“Really, Unnie,” Joy rolled her eyes again. “Can you please keep up? Heechul is the one who’s been managing our website back home. And he’s a dude.”

“Oh?”

“Remember when I told you we should sell your prints online to make extra cash?”

Seulgi nodded.

“Well, I had Heechul-oppa create a website. We’ve been selling your photos for three months now.”

A light bulb went off in Seulgi’s head. _That’s why her bank account seemed a little fuller recently._ She really should pay more attention.

“Well no matter,” Joy said her mouse clicked, “Yeri can still help me after. And I can delete any clips you’re in cause you’re _no-jam_.”*

“Yah!” Seulgi scoffed. “I’m pretty _jam_.”

“Whatever you say,” Joy shook her head. Soon the air was filled with silence, save for the incessant clicking and the occasional keyboard presses.

As the images came and went, and the Seulgi saw everyone’s likenesses more, she found herself feeling closer to each of them. Mark and Johnny were just as youthful in their pictures as they are in real life. Their eyes seemed perpetually smiling. Minho was forever serious, but undeniably handsome. He even smiled a few times, though the instances were few and far between. He seemed to get even more handsome in these instances.

There were some other team members she hadn’t really interacted with except to photograph. Like the other members of the medical staff: Dr. Son Seungwan and Im Yoona. The former gave off a bright aura, and when surprised, her eyes and mouth formed big O’s. Seulgi found her pictures the most entertaining. Dr. Im was tall and pretty, and with the white coat she looked like she belonged on Grey’s Anatomy. 

More photos, more people she’d grown to recognize. Kim Taeyeon. Jung Jaehyun. Kim Junmyeon (whom everyone called Suho). Lee Taemin. Oh Sehun. Lee Taeyong. More faces she’d yet to learn names for. Some faces she did know.

Henry, their driver, was quite a character, and as such, in almost every photo of him, everyone around him was smiling or laughing, even if he wasn’t. She even saw Dr. Bae smiling in one. Seulgi was impressed, because from the week she’d spent following the doctor around, she had yet to see anything from her that wasn’t cool, calm, collected and precise. 

_Like an ice princess assassin._

The photos of Dr. Bae could’ve been something out of a staged pictorial, rather than something that Seulgi shot off the cuff. She was picture perfect in everyone. One photo stood out absolutely.

* * *

_“Over here, I need some help,” Dr. Son called out. “He’s got a tibia fracture.”_

_“Yah, Dr. Son, do you think we should?” her nurse, Taeyong asked. “We’re only supposed to be testing and treating Reveluvirus infections.”_

_Dr. Son smiled that kilowatt smile and simply said, “Remember your oath, Taeyong. We help all. Now can you please find Dr. Bae and bring her here?”_

_He rushed off without another word. Within a minute, Taeyong was back, with Dr. Bae two steps behind._

_“What is it Seungwan-ah?” her phrasing light like she just asked about the weather._

_“Seems like a compound fracture of her left tibia but we’ll never be sure because the nearest xray is machine is five hundred miles away.” They shared a dark look between them._

_“So we have to set it here,” Dr. Bae said with finality. Seulgi saw her face set with determination. “Taeyong, please bring us a plaster kit, a small suture set and a bottle of water.”_

_“But Dr. Bae,” Taeyong stammered, “you’re going to set it here? Outside?”_

_She silenced him with a glare and Seulgi felt her insides clench up in fear, regardless of whether or not the irritation was directed at her. He scrambled to gather up the items and brought them back quickly to the doctors._

_Taeyong carried the young girl, who Seulgi guess was seven or eight, into a nearby hut. Dr. Bae shrugged off her white coat and laid it on the ground. Taeyong set her down on the coat and the team began setting everything up._

_Seulgi was fascinated. They worked efficiently, seeming to sense what the other person was going to need about a second before they asked. In fact, she’d been so taken aback she forgot to take photos since Taeyong first brought Dr. Bae. She quickly brought her camera up to her face and started snapping away._

_“Excuse me,” Dr. Bae said. Seulgi kept going, assuming she was talking to one of her teammates. Until finally--_

_“Excuse me.”_

_Dr. Bae turned at the exact moment, her eyes burning lasers through Seulgi’s camera into her core. The photographer froze. That voice was ice cold, sending a frozen shot through her stomach._

_“Sorry?” she said half questioningly._

_“You’re blocking the light,” Dr. Bae nodded with an almost lazy flick of her head, and Seulgi looked around to see she was casting a shadow over their work area. She quickly stammered out an apology and moved._

* * *

Three days later, the Dr. Bae of that day was staring at Seulgi once again, and this time, the photographer was staring back. Somehow in that moment, she no longer looked quite as stern, but as if Seulgi had caught her off guard in that moment. She was strikingly beautiful. Seulgi had never been good with words, and in that instance, her mind was failing to give her adequate adjectives to describe the woman on her screen.

But Joy found it for her.

“Mmmm, _tasty_ ,” she hummed over Seulgi’s shoulder.

“Ya!” Seulgi hollered and gave the taller girl a shove. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Same thing you’re doing,” Joy shrugged, her face curled in a smirk. “Checking out the merchandise.”

“She’s not merchandise,” Seulgi said defensively.

“I wasn’t referring to her,” Joy deadpanned. “I was referring to your work, in the photographic sense, since that is our merchandise and all.”

“Right,” Seugli sighed, sensing the sarcasm for once. “I’m going to resume _my work,”_ turning quickly back to her computer.

Joy roared with laughter beside her.

Seulgi clicked her mouse with a little more force than necessary. The next photo came on screen. And the next.

“Aw c’mon don’t be like that Seulgi-ya,” Joy whined.

“I’m your _unnie,”_ Seulgi replied in the sternest voice she could muster. Which wasn’t very stern at all. She clicked again.

“Aw c’mon, don’t be like that Seulgi-unnie,” Joy whined. Another click.

Seulgi sipped her coffee to emphasize her nonchalance. Unfortunately, the ambiance dissipated in an instant as the next image came up for review and Seulgi spat her coffee on the screen. 

“What the?” Joy said in half disgust, half confusion.

Seulgi couldn’t form words at the moment. Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. Her throat formed something like horrible gagging sounds. Her eyes bulged. 

Joy looked at her in alarm. Forgetting her honorifics in the moment, she said, “Seulgi, what the hell?” Standing up to look at Seulgi’s screen once again, it took her a moment to see what had flabbergasted the older woman so. 

There on the screen, was Dr. Bae, Dr. Son, Nurse Taeyong and the little girl they were treating. But that wasn’t what the fuss was about. Dr. Bae’s back was to the camera, and there just above her pants line, in all its purple glory, was what was causing Seulgi’s panic attack.

“Is--- _IS THAT A THONG_?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry at my sorry attempt at humor. I have no idea where I'm going with this so we're all in for a wild ride.


	2. Once You Go Black...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seulgi is awkward. She also thinks she should get new friends.

“ _Breathe_ ,” Joy said, slapping Seulgi’s back, “breathe.”

“Cheesus Crust,” Seulgi choked out, her eyes red from not being able to expel or intake air. “Did--did you see it?”

“Of course I saw, you _gomdol,”_ Joy said with an eye roll. “It’s purple in a country of green and brown.”

Seulgi only wheezed in response. Joy slapped her back again.

“It is nothing short of a Christmas miracle that you’ve ever managed to have a girlfriend before, since you seem completely unable to function in front of pretty women,” Joy said.

Seulgi wheezed again, her hardware having to reboot and enter safe mode and _you can insert more nerdy computer analogies here_.

“Wait a minute,” Joy said to herself more than the other woman, “you can function in front of me perfectly fine, so does that mean you don’t think I’m pretty?”

She gave Seulgi a frowny pout, who in turn gave a wave that said, ‘I’ll tell you in a bit, once I can breathe again.’

“Oh!” Joy squealed suddenly, “when we first met for the interview you barely said two sentences. I just thought you were super stern, but you were flustered, weren’t you?” 

She turned back to her boss. Seulgi nodded slightly.

“Yes,” Joy clapped her hands. “Okay, that’s fine, I was a little worried for a bit. I was called ‘Sexy Dynamite’ in high school you know?” She looked at the other woman to make sure she did know. “In college too,” she added.

“Sexy Dynamite sounds like a new shrimp special at Red Lobster, if you ask me,” Yeri quipped as she entered the tent.

“No one asked you, _Gollum_ ,” Joy said as she stuck her tongue out.

“You’re making enough noise for literally the whole compound to hear you, so I’d argue that yes, you are asking me,” Yeri said smugly.

“Aish, knock it off you two,” Seulgi said a little distractedly. She had regained her composure and was looking for a rag.

“Good grief,” Yeri said, eyeing the congealing coffee on Seulgi’s screen with thinly concealed disgust. Actually, just disgust. She wasn’t concealing any of it. “What in the world happened? I can’t leave you two unsupervised can I?”

“Hey,” Joy said with mild irritation, “the evening was going very nicely. We had a nice quiet time sorting the media, no one talking, just some clicks here and there and--what?” Joy asked when she saw Yeri’s frown.”

“Y’all really are _no jam duo.”_

“No, no, no, wait til I show you what---”

“Found it!” Seulgi yelled, crawling out from under a table with a towel in her hand. She began looking through their storage bins. She shuffled about, completely ignoring the other two girls. “Now to find the screen cleaner and antibacterial wipes…”

Joy’s arms fell to her sides. “Actually, you’re absolutely right,” she sighed defeatedly. “We really are _no jam_.”

The youngest eyed Joy with raised brows and a shoulder shrug that said, _told you so._

“But,” Joy continued, “you should still see this though, once _Dduelgi_ here cleans off her screen.”

Seulgi shot her coworker, and supposedly best friend, a side eye. “I don’t know why I keep you guys around, it really only heightens my misery.”

“Because I’m a _sexy dynamite,”_ Joy said matter of factly.

“And because without me, you would literally never make any money,” Yeri said as she crossed her arms. “Neither of you know how to upload to the servers.” She leaned towards Seugli’s laptop. “Now hurry up and show me the thing that makes me think you guys are fun.”

“Oh no,” Seugli said panicked, “you can’t see this. You’re too young and innocent to be looking at things like this.” She put her hands in front of the screen in a very poor attempt to hide the image.

The youngest crossed her arms and cocked her head. “Let’s be real unnie, if anyone is innocent here, it’s you. I’ve seen thongs before.”

“Oh very true, Kim Yerim-ssi,” Joy sing-songed mockingly. “ _Kkangsuel_ blushes during kdrama kiss scenes.”

Seulgi sighed, deflated, her shoulders slumping. “I was only trying to shield you from the evils of the world.”

“I’m twenty-one, not eight.” Yeri said with an eye roll. “I’ve seen a lot more worldly things than thongs--”

Seulgi flicked her head, as trying to shoo away the information the younger woman was telling her.

“--and I’ve certainly collected a fair amount of thongs.”

“Yah!” Seulgi yelled, covering her ears quickly.

“TMI! TMI!” Joy screamed, shoving Yeri.

The youngest only cackled louder in response. Seulgi squeezed her eyes tighter, in a misguided attempt to push the information out of her brain. Once the ruckus had died down a bit, Yeri resumed the conversation, much to Seulgi’s chagrin.

“So I’m guessing Seulgi has the hots for the doc?” 

She didn’t bother responding, she just placed a hand over her eyes and sighed.

_This was going to be a very long eleven weeks._

* * *

The next morning Seulgi woke from someone yelling outside their barracks. 

“Excuse me?” he called. “Seulgi-ssi?”

The woman rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and yawned lazily. She stumbled to the front of the tent and opened it, squinting in the bright light. When her eyes adjusted, she realized that she didn’t recognize the person in front of her.

He was tall, taller than Minho even. Also cut quite an impressive figure, from his broad shoulders to his chiseled features. What caught Seulgi off guard was that unlike everyone else in the compound, the man had blue eyes and dirty blond hair.

“Can I help you?” she said quizzically.

“Sorry to bother you so early,” he said apologetically, “Minho has requested your presence at a briefing. We will be sending out a team to a remote location and they would like to go over the itinerary with you and your team.”

Seulgi nodded in understanding. “We will get ready and be there shortly. Thank you, Mister ----” she trailed off.

The man sensed her hesitation and filled in the blank. “Erik, it’s just Erik,” he laughed. “I’m one of the assistant guides under Minho-ssi.” His eyes formed little half moons as he smiled. Seulgi thought it made his face brighter, and although it didn’t make her forget her vocabulary like a certain doctor did, she was sure someone else in her building would appreciate it. As if on queue, Yeri showed up a half second later.

“Hiiiiii Erik,” she cooed, her hands on Seulgi’s shoulder as she lifted a foot daintily. Seulgi shrugged her off with disdain. “It’s nice to meet you,” she continued, as if the other woman weren’t there.

Seulgi felt her insides shrivel up and her fingers were curling into fists, yet somehow Yeri did something else that made her want to punch something.

“I’m Katy,” Yeri said in a voice that Seulgi assumed was her sexy voice, but actually sent chills down the older woman’s spine. It didn’t sound anything like she normally did.

“Alright,” Seulgi said, deciding the nonsense had gone far enough. She reached for the door and began closing it. “Thanks again Erik!”

“Byyyyye Erik!”

Seulgi ignored Yeri and walked back towards her bed. Joy was up, putting face cream on in a nearby mirror.

“Who the hell is Katy?” she asked. 

Seulgi shook her head quickly, pretending the last five minutes never happened.

“You’ve gotta stop doing that, Yeri,” Joy scoffed. “When you flirt it makes people think you’re a serial killer.”

“Oh!” Seulgi exclaimed, brain slowly catching up. “Is that why…?”

“Yes!” Joy said. “The pizza boy thought she was gonna murder him and turn him into pizza toppings.”

“What?” Yeri shrugged. “He was cute. No idea where he got the murder idea from.”

“You answered the door with a crossbow and said ‘Peek a Boo,’” Joy scolded. “How could he not get the wrong impression?”

"I did a sexy dance after I took the pizza."

"Which I'm sure he thought was a ritual dance for your murderous cult," Joy argued back.

Yeri didn’t verbalize a response, merely shrugging her shoulders and smirking.

“Hurry up, we’ll be late,” Seulgi shook her head as she walked out the door.

* * *

Minho stood at the front of the main hall, giving people nods and half smiles as they walked in.

The trio stumbled in and took their seats in an empty row.

Despite herself, Seulgi noticed the exact moment Dr. Bae entered the room. She was dressed casually, in simple cargo pants and a v neck shirt, and yet she still managed to outshine everyone in the room by a mile. Unlike Seulgi, who’s hair was tied up in a messy bun, the doctor’s hair was down, cascading in gentle waves over her shoulders. She was impressed; the climate had rendered Seulgi’s hair into one giant frizz fest.

Once again, as if the woman could feel Seulgi’s eyes on her, she turned towards her, executing a perfect hair flip in the process. Seulgi felt her eyes widen for a millisecond before she hurriedly looked away.

Her cheeks burned. Did Dr. Bae see her staring? If she noticed, could the ground open up right now to swallow her? Could Seulgi possibly be anymore embarrassing? 

“Kang Seulgi-ssi?” 

“Yes?” she answered, looking up in the direction of the voice. The speaker was another handsome man (was there a non-handsome man in the entirety of this compound?). His jet black hair was combed neatly to the side, framing his sharp nose and flawless features. She recognized him from her photos as Kim Junmyeon, affectionately called Suho, and the person responsible for funding the entire expedition.

“How has the documentary process been going? It’s been about a week since we arrived; you must’ve captured a lot of wonderful moments,” he smiled.

“Ah yes,” Seulgi nodded, “We’ve recorded a lot of moments. Between Joy--” she pointed to said person, “and myself, I think what we’ve captured will really allow people to feel as if they’re right here.”

“Excellent,” he said with a bright smile. “Could we see some of the images? If you have them available?”

“Well--” she trailed off. Seulgi always kept two copies of the images while on shoots: one master hard drive in a fireproof, waterproof portable safe, and a usb flash drive on a keychain, so she had them on her person at all times. She hesitated. The images on the flash drive had a different---- _feel_ than the images she normally took. Not to mention, they might feature _someone_ a bit more prominently than others. Feeling like minutes, the seconds ticked by, until Joy spoke up.

“Suho-ssi, we have a lot of media to review, so I think Seulgi might be a little reluctant to show you work that is below our standards.” 

Seulgi could’ve kissed Joy at that moment. Sometimes, the younger woman frustrated her to no end, with her relentless teasing and her unnerving skill to make Seulgi uncomfortable. Seulgi could think of at least a few instances where she wanted to wrap her hands around Joy’s throat. But then the infuritating woman would do something like this to quell Seulgi’s anger and she’d love the dumb giant all over again. She gave Joy a big eye smile. Joy smiled back.

“But she has a flash drive that we can plug into the projector to show you some preliminary work.”

And just like that, Seulgi was sizing the hands in her lap against the circumference of Joy’s neck. So to answer her internal question earlier, yes, she absolutely could in fact be more embarrassing.

“Great!” Suho clapped his hands. “You can use this laptop here.” 

Everyone seemed oblivious to Seulgi’s turmoil as Joy pried the USB drive out of her fingers. The taller woman plugged it in and set it to slide show mode. Seulgi felt her insides slowly turning to stone. Beside her, Yeri leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“Dude, you need to chill out. Why are you getting so worked up? You didn’t put the thong pic on there did you?”

Seulgi shot her a glare. “Of course not,” she hissed.

“Then relaaax,” Yeri drawled. Leaning back into her chair and folding her arms, she added, “You always take nice pictures, I don’t know why you’re so uptight.”

 _You’ll see in a minute,_ Suelgi thought.

The lights dimmed and the slideshow started. Seulgi almost forgot how many photos she had taken over the past few days. As they slid by every few seconds, she became increasingly aware of the fact that a certain face kept showing up a little _too_ often. 

Dr. Bae’s face was quite prominent in the images. Seulgi had captured her in a variety of situations, yet she was only ever cool and composed in the images. Like velvet, she was never ruffled, her hair always perfect, her expression never wavering. Just as one would expect from a top doctor. 

If Seulgi were to guess, Dr. Bae was featured in every three images (okay, every two, what could she say, the doctor photographed very well). She tried to justify it. _The doctor was photogenic, she was the head of the medical team so she should be featured the most, etc_. But Seulgi knew that deep down, she couldn’t help it. Dr. Bae was simply too beautiful for Seulgi to look away.

The lights came back on and Suho took up the center again. 

“Thank you Seulgi-ssi, that was wonderful,” he smiled. “As I’m sure we all noticed, our incomparable Dr. Irene is stunning. She absolutely shines in all of those photos.” He grinned at the doctor, who simply stared impassively in return. “Yes, yes, she is amazing in every single picture, just as she is amazing in real life.”

Seulgi chanced a look at the physician. The woman had ducked her head. Though she wasn’t smiling, the faint blush coloring her cheeks was unmistakable. A taste of bile climbed to the back of Seulgi’s throat. She was never one for PDA, and Chairman Kim was practically shooting love arrows from his eyeballs. She was partly conflicted: was she upset because the guy was gag worthy, or because he was on a first name basis with the beautiful woman? 

Up until that moment, she hadn’t learned the doctor’s first name. 

_Irene._

It sure sounded fancy. Like if she hadn't become a doctor, Seulgi imagined her as a computer programmer, hiding behind large, round-framed glasses. Or maybe as the emcee of a music program, if she smiled more. She could’ve even been the leader of an idol group, dancing to sexy songs. Or maybe even cute ones.

Seulgi shook her head. That last notion was especially ridiculous.

“On that note,” Suho said, and Seulgi had a flash of fear as she wondered if he was reading her mind, “let’s get back to the reason why we’re here. There is an island nearby called Nosy Boraha. We’ve received a report about a possible case. Because it is a single case and is yet unconfirmed, we will not be dispatching a whole crew. However, we will still be sending our camera crew to document the encounter. I will now defer to Leader Choi to go over the details.”

Suho bowed out and Minho stood up, taking his place.

“Right, thank you Kim-ssi. The primary objective here is confirmation and containment. If it is indeed a case, we want to isolate them from the population before it can spread. Tomorrow, we will be dispatching two teams to the island. They will be flown in via helicopter, as the village is an area that is too difficult for vehicles to reach. We will only be taking the minimal amount of people. Before we go any further, I’d like to introduce one of my assistant guides.” 

Minho gestured to a man in front of him. The man stood up. He was nearly as tall as his boss, and upon first glance Seulgi thought he would be just as serious as the leader, as they both wore the same stern expression. Seulgi was wrong however, when a second later the man smiled and instantly seemed twenty times warmer.

“Hey guys, I’m Kai,” he said in a deep baritone voice.

After Kai sat down. Minho continued on, “Kai and I will each be co-piloting a chopper. Henry and Mark will be the main flight captains. From the medical team, Dr. Son Seungwan and nurse Lee Taeyong, and Dr. Im Yoona and nurse Jung Jaehyun.

“And although I don’t think it’s necessary in this case,” Minho casted a side glance towards Suho that obviously held unspoken issues, “Seulgi-ssi and Yeri-ssi will be coming to record everything.”

The head photographer let out a breath. She was quite worried she would be forced to follow Dr. Bae around, and after the #ThongIncident2020, Seulgi wasn’t sure how she would’ve survived.

“Excuse me,” a quiet voice interrupted. All heads turned towards the speaker, who pushed her hair behind her shoulder. 

“Why am I not included?” Dr. Bae asked.

“As Senior Medical Officer, Dr. Bae,” Minho said, “we felt that you would prefer to send your subordinates instead.”

“I would prefer,” she said icily, “that you not assume you can read my mind.” 

Seulgi wondered how Minho didn’t melt right there from her glare. 

“And they are not my subordinates, they are my colleagues.” Dr. Bae crossed her arms.

“Irene-ssi,” Suho pleaded, “it’s a remote village. It’s safer for you to remain here; the village is located in a dangerous area.” 

That was very much the wrong thing to say. Seulgi almost winced as he said it.

“So you’re saying,” she turned to Suho, “that because it’s dangerous, I should let someone else go because they’re less important and as such, it’s okay if they get hurt or die?”

“That’s not what we’re saying--”

“What _I’m_ saying,” Dr. Bae cut across, “is that I am going. Dr. Son is the best pathologist here so she should be accompanying us, while Dr. Im is more than capable of maintaining the medical facility. It is no less than if I were here myself.” 

A beat passed, and Minho and Suho exchanged glances to see if the other was going to challenge the seething woman. Sensing their defeat, Minho simply said, “As you wish.”

If only they knew, it was Seulgi’s defeat as well.

* * *

“Y’know Boss Lady,” Yeri said as they loaded the equipment into the helicopter, “your girfriend was scary as fuck yesterday.”

“Not my girlfriend, but otherwise you’re not wrong.”

“And,” the younger one continued on, “I’d say you picked a good one to have a pathetic crush on.”

“Yeri-ah,” Seulgi said nicely, seemingly unbothered by the teasing as she brushed imaginary dirt from the girl's shoulder, “when you get on the helicopter, don’t bother buckling in, it’ll make it so much harder for me to push you out of it.”

Yeri cackled in return.

As luck would have it, they wouldn’t even get to ride together. Something about having to offset weight or what not. The universe would continue to conspire against Seulgi.

Minho, Mark, Yeri, Dr. Son and Taeyong were in one chopper, while Seulgi was with Kai, Henry, Jaehyun and Dr. Bae. She swallowed her tongue as the Dr. Bae took a seat next to her. The loud whirring of the blades was dulled by the headset she put on. Kai’s voice crackled over the din.

“You guys good?” He gave a thumbs up and a questioning grin.

Seulgi gave him a thumbs up in response, and soon the helicopter was rising. The compound shrank from their view, just as most of her thoughts did to center on Dr. Bae.

This was the closest Seulgi had ever been to her. She could smell the faint hints of lavender wafting off of the doctor, and her skin was a pale, milky white, as smooth as cream.

Seulgi had assumed (maybe even hoped) that this would be a quiet chopper ride. After all, she had never seen Dr. Bae initiate or engage in idle chatter, and the photographer was not going to be the one to start it. No, if she had her way, extremely awkward silence was her route of choice. Because if she spoke to Dr. Bae, images of her face and a certain piece of purple lingerie would creep into her mind, and she wouldn’t be able to chase them away.

As if sensing what she was trying to do, the doctor caught Seulgi's attention.

“Thank you for the photos you’ve taken. They were lovely.”

Seulgi tried to stammer out a response, but she couldn’t hear herself over the din. Her headset wasn’t working. Dr. Bae looked at her quizzically, her eyebrows furrowing. The photographer felt around her headset, wondering if something was unplugged, then followed the cable up to the ceiling, where it connected to the chopper. 

Seulgi flinched when something brushed her neck, and she almost threw herself out of the chopper when she saw that it was the beautiful doctor's hands on her neck. The woman was fiddling with the headphones, looking at it impassively, adjusting something calmly, which was the exact opposite of Seulgi’s heart rate. 

Seulgi’s chest was thrumming uncontrollably, a flush rising in her neck and cheeks as the doctor continued to fiddle. Her fingers were lightly brushing against Seulgi’s skin, leaving a trail of flames every time she upset the tiny hairs at her nape. The photographer sat still as a statue, save for her eyes, which were darting around nervously.

She silently sent a thanks to the universe for allowing her to flail on her own, without Joy or Yeri to watch her as she did the panicked gay routine.

Finally, the doctor sat back satisfied.

“Try that now,” she said.

“Test test.”

Jaehyun and Kai turned in Seulgi's direction, giving her a nod and thumbs up.

“Th-thanks,” she stammered, giving Dr. Bae a nervous smile.

The other woman pointed to a button on the ceiling and pressed it, then she pointed to a similar button on Seulgi’s panel. Catching on, Seulgi also pressed hers.

“That gives us a private channel,” the doctor's voice crackled in her headphones, “so we don’t bother the others.”

“Ah I see,” Seulgi nodded. “And you’re very welcome for the pictures, Dr. Bae”

“It’s Irene,” she said with a closed lip smile.

“Dr. Irene?” Seulgi said playfully, before freezing because she knew the doctor didn’t do playful. To her surprise though, Dr. Bae only laughed.

“Just Irene,” she chuckled. “But if you were my patient, I’d ask you to call me Dr. Bae.” 

_Was that a joke?_

Seulgi was thrown. She’d followed Dr. Bae--Irene, she corrected herself--for the past week and she had seen never this side of her, only the Dr. Bae that was laser focused and serious. 

“Could I ask you a favor?” Irene asked her quietly.

Seulgi nodded a firm yes. 

“Could you take more photos of the other team members as well? Instead of me?”

Seulgi panicked. She tried to think of some excuse for her borderline obsession with the doctor, but Irene seemed to misinterpret Seulgi’s silence as offense.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate your photos,” she said quickly, “but I think some of the others should get some recognition as well.”

Seulgi still hadn’t come up with a response, so the doctor continued on.

“I know they told you to take the photos of me because I’m considered the leader of the medical group, but Suho’s notion can be a bit….tiresome.” She looked wearily at Seulgi, who nodded. Truthfully, they had told Seulgi nothing of the sort, but if it saved her some embarrassment, she’d roll with it.

“I think the best word to describe it is perhaps 'fanboy'?” Seulgi chanced. She was rewarded with another laugh.

“You may be right,” Irene giggled behind her hand. “But he’s also a bit scared of me so I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

“Yeah, you can be a bit scary,” Seulgi responded without thinking. She quickly clapped a hand over her mouth, horrified. 

Irene laughed softly, playing with her hair. “It’s alright. I hear that a lot. But that’s enough about me,” she redirected the conversation, “tell me about yourself.”

Seulgi didn’t know where to start, so she told her everything. She talked about her love for art in all its forms, from photography, to music, to paintings. She spoke of her love of nature and adventure. She talked about how she got her start, photographing her friends as they went rock climbing in Yosemite, or rappelling canyons in New Zealand or mountaineering in France. How all of that eventually led to here being here, in a helicopter, flying over Madagascar making a documentary for the National Geographic.

For her part, Irene was an attentive listener. Her eyes never wavered from Seulgi, giving her her undivided attention, smiling every now and then, and giving Seulgi the reassurance that she was actually heard. 

All Seulgi had ever heard was how cold Dr. Bae was. How she was too stern and always serious. That she never joked or laughed, how she never had fun. But that was not who Seulgi saw. At least not anymore. 

The doctor wasn’t particularly gregarious, though she did laugh, and when she did, it was like sunlight peeking through the cracks. She seemed cold, but Seulgi had already seen how warm she was for her colleagues, volunteering to come here, and how she listened to Seulgi, as if that was all she had wanted in the world. 

Too entranced by their conversation, Seulgi barely noticed the helicopter touching down, only realizing it when the rest of the cabin removed their headsets. She unbuckled herself and clambered down the steps, gallantly reaching back to help Irene off the chopper. The doctor smiled shyly and ducked her head as she allowed Seulgi to assist her. The photographer felt sparks run up her arm, igniting from the fingertips where they connected to each other.

The teams began setting up their temporary basecamp. The men began setting up the various tents, while the two doctors rummaged through the medical equipment. Yeri and Seulgi began hauling their camera equipment off the chopper towards their compound. Even for a short stay, there was an innumerable amount of storage bins and bags that had accompanied them. They their stuff in the area their tent would be set up, and Seulgi went back to help the others shuttle gear.

On her third trip back, she ran into Irene again. The petite woman was grunting loudly, yet it still sounded oddly cute. Her face was scrunched up, though she looked more pouty than angry. Seulgi rushed over and picked up the other side of the large container Irene had been trying to lift. 

“Thanks,” the other woman said breathlessly. 

“Let’s maybe grab smaller boxes on the next round, huh?” Seulgi smiled. "Let's leave the heavy stuff for Yeri."

Irene giggled, and Seulgi thought that her new hobby might just be trying to make Irene laugh more.

It had been nice, getting to talk to the doctor one on one, without the prescence of Joy or Yeri or the stupid thong sabotoging her thoughts. In fact, it had been nice just to simply talk. Seulgi was telling Irene as much when Yeri called over.

Irene and Seulgi paused their conversation to look at the younger girl, who was casually strolling over.

“I said, ‘I was looking for the _thing.”_

“What thing?” Seulgi said quizzically.

“Oh you know,” Yeri said dramatically, snapping her fingers for effect. “What was it called now? Ugh, I can’t remember, it’s the, uh--”

“What?” Seulgi sighed exasperatedly.

“The, uhm, golly _gee--string._ ” She stared directly at Seulgi, letting the pun sink in.

Seulgi froze, her face heating up. “What string?” she grunted out between clenched teeth.

“The one to plug into the cameras,” Yeri replied innocently, but her eyes sparkled with mischief.

“The cable? You mean the cable??” Seulgi said, eyes flashing.

"That's right, the cable!" Yeri clapped her hands together theatrically. "How could I forget?"

“It’s in there, the storage bin under the table,” Seulgi said quickly, wanting to get rid of Yeri as fast as possible.

“Oh?” Yeri said, turning slowly. “Under _wherrrrre_?” Again she let the pun hang in the air, and Seulgi felt her body turn red all over. She grabbed Yeri’s shoulders and roughly turned her around, stammering out an apology to Irene.

“I’m sorry, this won’t be long, I just need to help Yeri find some _thong_ \--thing! Something!” she yelped frantically, quickly shoving the other girl towards the nearby table and kneeling to rummage through the bins. 

Once she felt out of earshot of the doctor, Seulgi pinched the other girl’s side.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.

“Having some fun, _Slowgi,_ ” Yeri said with a swat of her hand. “You’re such a wreck, Boss Lady.”

“And _you’re_ a nuisance,” Seulgi said indignantly.

“But a cute nuisance,” Yeri replied nonchalantly, “and anyway, the cable’s not in here. It must be in the bin over there." She pointed towards a small box near Irene’s feet. Seulgi rolled her eyes and walked over. 

“What’s wrong?” Irene asked, sensing some tension in the air.

“Nothing,” Seulgi waved off, “but I think what we’re looking for is in that bin behind you.”

“Oh?” the doctor looked around. “This one?” she asked, pointing to the box.

Seulgi nodded, and Irene turned to grab the bin.

In all honesty, Seulgi should’ve been ready. She should’ve expected it. She knew what was going to happen before it did, and yet she did nothing to avert her gaze. 

As the doctor kneeled, there, above the waistband of her cargo pants, unable to be hidden by a shirt that was just the slightest bit too short, was the creeping sight of another thong. 

Seulgi didn’t --couldn't--say anything, barely managing to bring her arms up to receive the bin, before robotically turning around and marching away in the opposite direction.

_Black._

_It was black this time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tis the slowest of burns! I hope you're having fun. Also, are you enjoying the random canon RV references? I'll be trying to use as many real kpop things as I can, so I hope you spot them all.


	3. Trope-ical Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are you ready for the tropes? All the tropes everywhere.
> 
> Also, shizz is getting a little real cause there's supposed to be a story buried somewhere here.

Seulgi hadn’t quite gotten over the sight of yet another piece of salacious underwear. She spent the next couple of hours being unable to function, listlessly cleaning equipment and packing camera gear.

“Yeri-ah,” she moaned. “[What do I do?](https://youtu.be/XGdbaEDVWp0?t=158) It’s like I’m broken. Whenever I'm around her I just I act so stupid.”

The younger girl rolled her eyes. “It was pathetic. You looked like a mannequin, or my dongsaeng’s toy robot.”

“Ugh, I know,” Seulgi sighed, “everything is so awkward.”

“ _Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb,_ ” Yeri scolded, wagging her pointer finger at her boss.

Just like that, all the progress Seulgi had made was wiped clean. She had been able to hold herself together, even be comfortable, as she talked to the gorgeous doctor, and all it took was the glimpse of a tiny piece of fabric for Seulgi to become undone.

* * *

Seulgi managed to avoid running into the other woman for the rest of the afternoon, but as the sun set, she realized she didn’t have a choice, not unless she was planning to starve. Heavy feet trudged into the mess tent. 

To her dismay, it was significantly smaller than the mess tent at the main compound, which meant avoiding someone would be impossible. There were only two tables in the tent.

“Yo, _KkangSeul_!” 

Yeri was waving at her, seated next to a blonde woman she recognized as Dr. Son. She smiled politely as she sat down to eat. Yeri introduced them.

“ _Slowgi_ , this is Wendy. Wendy, this is _Slowgi_.”

The duo responded at the same time.

“I thought your name was Seungwan?” 

“I thought your name was Seulgi?”

The doctor spoke up first. “I went to school in Canada; Wendy is my English name.”

Yeri spoke up on Seulgi’s behalf. “Her name really is Seulgi, I just call her _Slowgi_ because she is one.”

“Hey!”

When Wendy looked between the two other girls perpelexed, Yeri spoke up again.

“You guys would really get along, Wendy-unnie,” she said. “You guys are reeeeeeally alike.”

“And that’s a good thing?” Wendy asked seriously.

“I’m sure it is,” Seulgi said reassuringly.

“I rest my case,” Yeri said with folded arms.

Irene walked in at that moment and Wendy waved her over.

_Crap._

Seulgi’s eyes darted around, trying to figure out what to do with themselves. She gulped down the burger she had in her mouth, the food going down thickly as she tried to swallow her nervousness as well. She caught a glimpse of Yeri, still sitting there with her arms crossed and a shit-eating grin.

Seulgi was very thankful in that moment that Joy was not there as well.

“I see you’ve made some friends, Seungwan-ah,” Irene said, the term of endearment and light touch to her shoulder not going unnoticed by Seulgi.

“Hi, Joohyunnie,” Wendy nodded, “I’ve been talking to Yeri and Seulgi here, but I’m sure you already know them.”

_Joohyunnie?_

Seulgi had never heard anyone call Irene that before, but she was not about to question it now, not when Yeri was right across from her.

Irene gave both of them polite nods as she sat down.

“I hope I’m not interrupting a terribly important conversation, but I need to go over some details for tomorrow.”

The other three women gave the senior doctor their attention.

“Tomorrow we’ll be going to the village of [Zimzalabim](https://youtu.be/vP2JRvncjfY?t=616), about a kilometer north of here.”

“Zimjalabim?” Wendy asked.

“Zimzalabim,” Irene corrected.

Yeri tried. “Jimjalabim?”

“What?” Irene frowned, glaring at all of them.

“Zimzalabim,” she repeated with finality, and the next time any of them tried so say it, it would be in private, well away from Irene.

“Right,” Irene said, continuing on, “the case is, as of yet, unconfirmed. However, it’s been approximately fourteen hours since symptom onset. We can’t confirm until twenty-four hours have passed--”

Irene gave Wendy a questioning look, who nodded in approval,

“--so until we get confirmation, we’re going to proceed with level 4 precautions.”

“What does that mean?” Yeri asked.

This time Wendy spoke.

“It pretty much means we’re going to go in in double layered hazmat suits, all of us.”

“All of us?” Seulgi asked, confused.

“Yes,” Irene nodded, “from what we’ve seen, patients are contagious in the first twelve to thirty-six hours. Unfortunately, that’s also the window for confirmation and if treatment is initiated, the time frame with the highest recovery rate.”

Seulgi and Yeri both nodded. Irene reached out and placed a hand over the one Seulgi had on the table, unknowingly sending a shock of terror up the other woman’s arm.

“I’m sorry,” Irene said apologetically, “Minho and I both agreed it would’ve been better for you both to remain behind, but Suho quoted something in the contract details that require you to accompany us.”

Seulgi nodded again, the gravity of the situation finally coming to settle on her shoulders. She also wondered if Irene was aware of the tiny circles she was rubbing into the back of Seulgi’s hand.

“Do you need both of us? Or is one person sufficient?” she asked instead.

“ _KkangSeul_!” Yeri objected.

Seulgi ignored her and looked to Irene and Wendy. Irene nodded her head and smiled.

“I supposed that’s up to you, after all, you are the art director here.”

Seulgi smiled back, sensing that they had come to an understanding.

* * *

The next morning, Yeri was staging a protest.

“Seulgi-unnie, you can’t leave me here!” Yeri stamped her feet.

Seulgi had to smile. The younger woman only used proper honorifics when she was particularly upset or worried.

“Yerim-ah,” Seulgi said, getting serious for a second. “Please, just listen to me and stay here.”

“But--”

“I know you want to come, but you heard the doctors. It’s a Level 4 situation. Do you know what this means?”

Yeri shook her head.

“The BSL Level 4 is the highest level there is. It’s reserved only for microbes that are the worst of the worst. If they think it’s that bad here, I don’t want you anywhere near it.”

“But what about you?” Yeri asked worriedly.

“Better me than you,” Seulgi said with a laugh, “I wouldn't want you haunting me for the rest of my life. You're annoying enough as it is.”

Seulgi shouldered her backpack. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back this evening. Everything will be fine.”

* * *

Seulgi should’ve known better than to open her big fat mouth. They were currently running from the village back to the campsite. Minho and Jaehyun were panting with effort, each of them carrying another person. Jaehyun was carrying a middle-aged man on his back, while Minho was shouldering Taeyong. Masks were practically discarded, hanging haphazardly from the faces of the team in an effort to breathe.

The sky was turning gray above, bringing the low rumblings of an impending thunderstorm. 

Irene radioed ahead, telling Kai and Henry to get a helicopter prepared. 

“Come on, come on!” she urged everyone. “We need to go!”

Strangely, Seulgi didn’t seem to register the panic everyone was experiencing. She calmly ran, her camera snapping photos of whatever she thought would be the most interesting at the moment. She supposed it was her experience with outdoor emergencies.

“What the hell happened?” Mark yelled, running out of the gate to meet them. His eyes darted between Minho and the unconscious Taeyong on his back.

“Later,” Minho grunted, “we need to get them on a chopper.” 

Up in the landing zone, Kai and Henry sat in the pilot seats, prepping the winged machine for takeoff. They put Taeyong and the man on the seats and buckled them in. Mark noticed the big red stain on Taeyong’s side.

“Hyung!”

“Stay here Mark!” Minho yanked the boy back by the collar. “Dr. Bae!” 

Irene wasted no time slipping a needle into Taeyong’s elbow. She connected it to a bag of plasma suspended from the ceiling and called for Wendy. Tiny droplets began to fall from the sky.

“Seungwan!” Irene shouted. Wendy ran over.

“Unnie?”

“Get on the chopper, I need you to go with them.”

Wendy’s eyebrows shot up.

“You’re the best at trauma management,” Irene explained as she handed her the bag of vials, “and you can get a head start on testing the samples. Don’t worry, we’ll follow you in a day.” 

“I’ll see you, Joohyunnie,” Wendy smiled back. It had started to rain in earnest now, and she pushed her wet bangs out of her face. Irene clasped both of the other doctor’s hands in her own, before pleading, “Be careful!”

Wendy climbed into the helicopter and waved. Seulgi watched it all from the side. It seemed intimate, even for colleagues, or friends, and Seulgi wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It was so...dramatic.

Like kdrama dramatic.

Or was this gay drama dramatic?

The chopper rose into the sky, scattering debri everywhere. It climbed and climbed, heading towards the mountain line behind them, which it would cross on its way back to the main island. It was a thousand feet up now, just about to cross the ridgeline.

Suddenly, as if to cement the notion that they were indeed trapped in a Korean soap opera, a bolt of lighting stuck the hillside, less than a hundred feet away from the rising chopper. It came with a deafening roar of thunder, and in her peripherals, Irene crouched and covered her ears. Seulgi couldn’t tear her gaze away from the flying machine though.

“Oh fuck,” Seulgi uttered. The rain was coming down harder now, and droplets were running into her eyes. 

“How bad is it, _unnie_?” Yeri appeared beside her. “You never say _fuck_.”

Seulgi bit her lip, unwilling to voice any negative thoughts aloud. She knew that standing here in an active lightning storm was insanely dangerous. She knew that she was the tallest thing within three hundred feet, and should another bolt of lightning come raining down, it would most likely strike her. She couldn’t move though, she was rooted to the ground, just watching.

“Come on,” she urged, “get out of here.”

 _Maybe,_ she thought, if she stood there the lightning would strike her and allow the helicopter to escape. It was a fool’s notion, though, for the chopper was thousands of feet closer to the clouds than she was. Then, to prove her wish futile, another bright flash of lightning blinded them, and by the time her eyes adjusted, she saw the helicopter in a spin heading towards the earth.

“NO!” Irene screamed. Her hands clutched at her collar, pulling down on the biohazard suit. She started to rush forward, running towards the chopper, which was still in a spiral, somehow managing to not hit the ground yet. 

Seulgi wrapped her arms around her and held her back. Irene was crying now. Seulgi couldn’t tell through the rain if there were tears but her eyes were red and she was hysterical.

“Let me go, Seulgi!” She thrashed in the other girl’s arms. 

“No!” the photographer grunted. “You can’t go up there! What are you going to do? They’re two thousand feet up the ridgeline, it’ll take us hours to hike up there in this weather.”

“I don’t care!” she yelled. “I have to get to Seungwan!” She struggled again.

Seulgi grimaced. The doctor had elbowed her but she managed to maintain her hold. 

Between the newly sprouting tears and the rain, Seulgi couldn’t quite see clearly, but she saw Minho running past her, a helmet in his hand.

“Where are you going?” she shouted at him.

“Taking the other chopper up!” he yelled back, not even bothering to look at her.

Sensing she wasn’t going to be freed, Irene crumpled to the ground, crying.

“Seungwan,” she sobbed. “My Seungwan. It’s all my fault.” 

* * *

**_Six hours earlier._ **

“We’ll gear up here, then enter the village. We don’t know how many people are infected, so we're going to be extra cautious,” Minho announced.

“Please make sure all the seams of your suit are properly taped and sealed,” Irene added. “We don’t have the benefit of an airlock, so we must check each other extra carefully. Remember, pair up and inspect each other well.”

Seulgi looked nervously at the suit. They’d put it on before in training, but only once, and she wasn’t quite sure if she remembered everything.

“Need some help?” Wendy asked from beside her, head cocked and wearing a gentle smile.

Seulgi spotted Dr. Bae, who was looking at her with concern and a step in her direction. Not wanting to embarrass herself any further in front of Irene, she gratefully accepted Wendy’s assistance.

“Probably?” Seulgi answered sheepishly. “I really have no idea what I’m doing.” 

“I got you,” Wendy said confidently with a wink. 

Actually, the duo were a terrible combination. Seulgi supposed it’s because they’re too similar: clumsy and easy going, and as a result, the suit assembly is quite the show. 

“Whoa!” Wendy yelped as she almost fell over trying to put on her pants. Seulgi reached out and caught her arm, keeping her from toppling completely. Wendy laughed as she practically folded in half, still clutching Seulgi.

Irene was looking at them with a frown. Seulgi averted her eyes and continued donning her suit; they were probably making too much of a ruckus.

“Take off your hoodie,” the blonde told her.

“Should I?” Seulgi asked. “It’s still pretty cold.”

“Trust me,” Wendy nodded confidently. “The suits don’t release a lot of heat so we’ll be sweating in no time.”

Nodding, Seulgi lifted the sweater over her head.

“ _Omo_!” Wendy exclaimed. 

Seulgi peeked out from between her arms, her hoodie caught above her head.

“What?”

Wendy pointed to her midsection, exposed under her rising undershirt. “Abs!” She stuck a hand out to feel Seulgi’s stomach.

“[ _Seulabs_](https://youtu.be/WdmXuoYnzPw?t=421)!” Wendy shouted.

Seulgi brought her arms down from above her head, shooing Wendy’s hands away. It wasn’t the first time she’d been complimented on her midsection, but it _was_ the first time she’d been complimented on it in front of Irene. She chanced a look at the woman, knowing that the noise she and Wendy had been making must have drawn a few looks.

Sure enough, Irene was frowning at them again, but it had deepened into a large glower. 

_Yikes._

She quickly pulled the rest of the suit over her head. Getting Dr. Bae pissed off early in the morning would really dampen their day.

“Seulgi?” Wendy called out. “I think my hood is caught on something.”

[Seulgi](https://youtu.be/EdjHPABsCrM?t=144) tiptoed to look at the top of Wendy’s suit. She saw what it was. The suit jacket had snagged a part of the hood. She fiddled to untangle it, her chin almost resting on the shorter woman’s head, Wendy's breath tickling her sternum. Beyond her, Seulgi spotted Irene, staring at them again, wearing an unreadable expression.

Seulgi quickly untangled Wendy’s suit and finished getting ready. They were obviously too slow and it wouldn’t be much longer before Irene came over to reprimand them, or worse, glare.

In the moment, Seulgi had just assumed that Irene was upset at the chaos they were causing. But now it all made sense.

* * *

_My Seungwan._

It explained why Irene was upset. Seulgi’s chest tightened uncomfortably.

She looked at the woman in her arms, her heart crumbling, the words stabbing a dagger into her chest. Seulgi really was too nice and stupid for her own good.

“Yeri!” she called her coworker, who was still watching the chopper. It had come to rest on the hillside, but thankfully, it was not in flames. “Stay with Dr. Bae,” she ordered.

“Where are you going?”

“To help.”

And Seulgi took off after Minho. 

“Yah, Kkangsuel!” Yeri yelled after her. “If you die--”

“Yeah, I know,” Seulgi waved a hand carelessly over her shoulder, “you’ll kill me.”

“No, can I have your air fryer?”

It was probably for the best that the chopper blades were already spinning, since the choice words she had for Yeri weren’t exactly tasteful. She grabbed a headset and began rummaging through one of the floor compartments.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Minho yelled from the other chopper door.

“Looking for a harness!” she yelled back. “I’m coming with you!”

“You’re not qualified!” 

“Like hell I’m not! I worked SAR in Mount Ranier for two years!”

“Search and Rescue?” Minho repeated.

“Hyung, let’s go!” Mark yelled from the pilot’s seat.

“Look, we don’t have time!” Seulgi reasoned. “You’re going to need all the help you can get.”

Minho seemed conflicted for a moment, but he relented. “Harnesses are in the left compartment. Let’s go!”

The chopper rose off the ground, fighting against the rain and wind. Seulgi looked until she spotted them, Yeri huddled with Irene on the ground, gazing up at them.

Seulgi shook her head and sighed as she buckled her helmet. Of all the stupid romantic gestures--actually, cancel that. Seulgi didn’t do romantic, not in the overly theatrical sense. She didn’t climb up ferris wheels, or stand outside someone’s window with a boombox, or proclaim her love in front of an entire crowd. Throwing herself out of a chopper onto a mountain in the middle of a thunderstorm for a girl would probably qualify, but because since the girl didn't even like her, and Seulgi didn’t do romantic, this was all just plain stupid. 

A stupid, stupid act of heroism for a stupid, stupid girl. Joy and Yeri were going to laugh so much at her funeral.

“You ready?” Minho called back to her. She nodded. He turned to his co-pilot. “Okay Mark, you’ve gotta keep it steady alright? Seulgi and I are going to lower to the other chopper. When we’re ready, we’ll signal you to come as close as you can and we’ll load everyone up.”

It wasn’t going to be easy, Seulgi could already tell. Though not a steep incline, the lack of a flat area meant they couldn’t set the helicopter down. When it was time, Mark would have to hover close enough for them to put everyone on, yet not so close that the blade of the chopper hit the mountainside.

For now though, Seulgi just needed to make sure they were all alive. She loaded herself into the rappel device. Leaning out, she could see the wreck, but there was no movement. 

“Go!” Minho signaled her, and she jumped off the chopper into the abyss. The rope slid through her hand smoothly, arresting her dance with gravity. Her feet touched down, slipping slightly on the muddy ground. Seulgi waited for Minho to come down as well before they made their way over. 

When they approached the remnants of the chopper, Seulgi was immediately relieved. It was nearly intact, and that meant that its occupants had a much higher rate of survival. It had come to rest on its right side, the blades broken off and scattered. 

Together, she and Minho wrenched open a door. Henry and Kai were both unconscious. Minho reached out to both of them, sighing with relief. “They’re both alive. Let’s get them out of here. I think that clearing is our best shot.” He pointed to a spot above them. Seulgi nodded and they worked the men out of their seats.

She put Kai on her back and took him to the clearing. 

“You’re strong,” Minho commented, nodding impressively as they went back for the others.

“I carry my own weight,” Seulgi shrugged.

The rest of the cabin was not quite as easy. The trio in the back hadn’t been properly buckled in and Taeyong and Wendy had fallen to the bottom of the cabin. Seulgi slid in.

“I’ll lift them up to you?”

Minho nodded. 

The virus patient was still miraculously strapped in. He hung from the safety belt, head lolling to the side. Seulgi really hoped he wasn’t infected, but there was nothing they could do about it now. She pushed the man up to Minho. Taeyong was next. Seulgi gently reconnected the IV bag of blood. His face was a bit paler, having lost some of it to the wound on his abdomen. His pulse was strong though, and Seulgi wasn’t worried about him. She was, however, worried for Wendy.

The small woman was crushed under the weight of Taeyong. Some of her fingers were pointing in the wrong direction and there was a large welt forming on her head. Seulgi pressed two fingers into her neck, letting out a breath when she felt a pulse.

“She’s got a pulse, but I think she might have a neck injury. I definitely see a contusion on her head.”

“Got it, just pass her up slowly. We’ll try to support her head as much as we can.” 

Seulgi wrapped her jacket around Wendy’s mangled hand, cushioning it as gently as she could. She would have to get to a hospital soon, otherwise the lack of blood flow might lead to amputation.

They spent much more time moving Wendy, taking extra caution as they maneuvered her body through the metal bird. Moving an unconscious body is much more difficult than a conscious person, and shifting Wendy was like moving a floppy mattress. Everything was dead weight.

Minho gently placed Wendy on Seulgi’s back, positioning her neck on her carrier's shoulders, before picking up Taeyong and marching upslope. 

Seulgi grunted with effort. Wendy wasn’t particularly heavy, but the rain had turned the dirt into slippery mud, and each step she took slid back a few inches. The unconscious woman wasn’t supporting herself either, and Seulgi had to regrip a few times before she slid off.

“Uggh,” Wendy suddenly groaned next to her ear. “Wow, everything hurts.”

“Just hang on to me, we’re gonna get you out of here.”

“My hand hurts like a _mofo_ ,” Wendy hissed.

“Uh yeah, wouldn’t recommend you looking at it. I’d leave it for the doctors.”

“I am a doctor.”

“I still wouldn’t look at it.”

“Oh man, Joohyun’s gonna be a wreck.”

“Yeah,” Seulgi muttered, not knowing what to say.

“Can you do me a favor?” Wendy asked. Seulgi nodded without hesitation.

“Tell her it’s not her fault.” Wendy let her chin rest on her carrier’s shoulder with a sigh. “Yeah, she’s gonna be cutting herself up about this. Tell her it’s not her fault and I still love her.”

Seulgi’s arms got weak, but she held on, grunting an agreement to Wendy.

Minho had already radioed Mark in. The helicopter was just about close enough for everyone to be loaded. Seulgi gently set Wendy down to help Minho with the others. Finally, Wendy climbed in, and Seulgi made sure to buckle her into a safety seat this time. 

Minho took the second pilot seat and Seulgi clipped her harness into the helicopter. They gave the signal to Mark for lift off, but the bird wouldn’t rise. It wobbled a little, but only strained louder as it tried to climb. 

“It’s too heavy!” Seulgi said in realization. “We’re not gonna make it!”

“No!” Minho angrily clenched a fist. “We have to.”

Seulgi realized then what she had to do. She looked over the edge: it was about fifty feet to the ground. She could rappel down, and walk back to the camp. It wouldn't be fun, but she'd make it.

“I’ll go!” she told the men. “I’ll be fine. You’ve got to get them to a hospital!” She pointed at all the bodies around them. Wendy was starting to fall unconscious again.

“I’ll go too!” he said.

She shook her head. “You can’t! You guys have to fly! You have to make it.

"I’ll be fine,” she reiterated.

Seulgi and Minho shared a moment of grim understanding, and he gave her the slightest nod. She started to lower down.

Rappelling is the easiest part of the rock climbing sport there is. Unlike actual climbing, it takes zero skill to descend. However, a large overwhelming percentage of deaths happen on the descent. There are various reasons: a rush to get down, lack of awareness, incorrect judgement, and sometimes, just plain carelessness. 

Seulgi thought of all these things in the half second between losing the rope and contacting the ground. She had underestimated the length needed, careening to the earth for ten feet, thankfully landing in a meadow of grass but unfortunately also falling sideways onto a log. 

She curled into herself in the fetal position, gasping for breath that wouldn’t come. The log had been right under her rib cage, knocking the wind out of her. 

The pain was….painful. So painful that in the moment she couldn’t think of any words that would be able to fully encompass the stabbing in her side and being unable to use her lungs. After many agonizing seconds, she finally got a hold of her breathing, and though it hurt to even take in a breath, she kept doing so. She knew the chopper above was waiting for her, so she looked up and thrust a thumbs up into the air. Thankfully, the chopper rose and made it over the ridgeline. 

The rain hadn’t let up at all, and now Seulgi was soaked to the core. She turned towards the lights of the camp. She had to get there soon, otherwise the hypothermia would begin to set in. 

“Fuck,” she spat. Each breath was a knife in her lungs; she must’ve broken a rib or two. She lined her body up with the campsite and took her first steps to the safety of civilization. 

* * *

**_Three hours earlier._ **

Little vials of blood clinked as Wendy set them safely in a carrier. They would be tested, alongside the saliva swabs they had gathered earlier. Having examined the man, she and Irene felt he was suffering from contaminated drinking water instead of _Reveluviridae_ , but better safe than sorry.

“Pack these in a cooler, and make sure it’s cushioned well,” she instructed Jaehyun.

Nearby, Dr. Bae was recording notes in the patient's chart. Seulgi was roaming around them, taking pictures of whatever caught her fancy. 

“Thankfully the village isolated him as soon as he started getting sick. It’s unlikely it has spread, but he needs to come with us,” Irene said.

“Why?” Jaehyun asked.

“Because if he is infected, we can’t allow him to contaminate whoever comes to care for him. So we’ll hold him until we know it’s not _Reveluv_ , and then he can come back home.”

Within the hour, the team had packed and began walking back to camp, already making plans for an afternoon nap.

Amongst the chatter, a loud rumble began to rise. Then came sharp, piercing sounds and Seulgi looked up just in time to see a fifty foot tree beginning to topple. Instinctively, she rolled, looking for Irene. 

The doctor was pulling Wendy with her, eyeing the fall path. It sounded like gunfire, as the last remaining pieces of wood holding it upright began to snap. Everyone had moved out of the way, except for the patient, whose illness was hindering his stamina. Taeyong rushed forward, pushing the man roughly out of the way, but sacrificing himself.

He managed to get clear of the most of the tree, but the larger side branches smothered him, rendering him unconscious.

Minho slashed his way to Taeyong, pulling the limp body out. It was then Seulgi saw them beyond the tree: men with chainsaws and tools.

 _Illegal poachers._ They were cutting the tree down for the precious wood it contained and it would be sold off and made into planks for the floors of billionaire’s houses. She wanted to yell, but instead she brought her camera up and snapped away. That set off the poachers, because when they spotted the lens, they immediately began raising their tools. 

_Shit._

Everyone else seemed to have the same thought, because Irene said, “Shit.”

Minho looked up from where he was helping Taeyong and said, “Shit.”

They quickly put the two unconscious men on the strongest people available and started running. 

Seulgi stole a glance back and saw the men were coming closer, machetes swinging. She turned back around and ran in earnest this time. 

Besider her, Wendy was sprinting, huffing under her breath, “Shit shit shit!”

When they reached the top of the next ridge, Seulgi chanced another look back. The men had stopped pursuing them, returning to turning the tree into household flooring. She let out a deep breath.

“Shit.”

* * *

Some four (or five?) hours after leaving the chopper, Seulgi stumbled into camp. The descent was miserable. Not only was she unable to breathe easily, but climbing down the muddy rocks and slopes made the hike a million times worse. Normally, a hike like that would take Seulgi an hour at most, but she had to stop every few feet to let the pain subside and regain her bearings.

“Unnie!” Yeri rushed up to her. The young woman had been keeping a vigil for her under the makeshift entrance tent. She quickly pulled Seulgi into a hug, not caring that the photographer’s wet clothes were soaking her.

“Sorry, you can’t have my air fryer,” Seulgi managed to laugh on Yeri’s shoulder.

“Oh my god, shut up, I really thought you had died this time,” Yeri practically cried into her shoulder. “It’s after midnight!” 

“Ow ow,” Seulgi winced. “Not too hard, I think I might’ve broken something.”

“Uh, duh, _Slowgi,”_ Yeri chastised. “Dr. Bae’s heart. She’s been so worried tonight. Been in her tent alone, and I could hear her sniffling.”

Seulgi was too exhausted to explain the inner workings of Irene’s emotional turmoil, instead choosing to say, “Wasn’t me. Just help me to my tent.”

“No way unnie, you look like shit.”

“So?”

“So there’s a doctor _and_ a nurse here and you should probably get looked at to make sure your brain is still intact?”

“I just need to sleep, Yeri.”

The youngest refused the answer. “No way, I’m taking you to Dr. Bae so you can get checked out.”

Then she realized what she had said and chuckled, “Hah, Dr. Bae is gonna check you out _._ ”

If Seulgi hadn’t been unable to breathe, or soaking wet, or completely exhausted or just over the entire goddamned day, she might’ve put Yeri in a headlock, but instead, she just leaned more into the girl for support and followed.

When they entered Irene’s tent, the woman’s eyes grew wide and she was next to Seulgi in an instant. 

“Oh my god, are you okay?!”

“Helicopter….too heavy,” Seulgi wheezed out. Breathing was getting immensely more difficult by the second. 

“Yes, I know,” Irene said, as she helped Seulgi to the nearby bed. “Minho called me on his satellite phone when they landed at the hospital. We’ve been waiting for you all night.”

“Sorry,” Seulgi rasped.

“Don’t ever be sorry,” Irene said seriously. “You saved everyone. Now lie down, I’m going to give you the once over.”

Yeri spoke up from the door. “I’m going to head out if you don’t need me? Looks like _Kkangseul_ is in good hands.”

Irene was already starting to examine Seulgi, and so she couldn’t see the waggling eyebrows aimed at her boss.

“Of course, Yerim-ah,” Irene said without looking up. “Thank you so much for your help today.”

“Not a problem, Irene-unnie.” 

Seulgi didn’t miss the wink Yeri threw at her and she made a mental note to flick her ear later.

Irene began palpating different parts of Seulgi’s body and if she thought she couldn’t breathe earlier, she was definitely suffocating now. Irene’s hands were all over her body, touching and pressing everywhere, and Seulgi’s face was surely a tomato, or maybe a blueberry, since she hadn’t actually taken a breath since Irene started her examination.

So when Irene pressed upon her ribcage, she overreacted a bit. She let out a yell, wincing in pain as breaths spasmed in and out of her. Irene calmed her by placing a warm hand on her forehead, whispering, “Shhh,” as Seulgi gasped beside her.

“Well that’s good,” Irene said with a smile, “you might’ve fractured a rib, but you’re otherwise alright. I’ll give you some painkillers and we have to get you into some warm clothes. You’re on the verge of hypothermia.

On cue, Seulgi’s body shivered, her teeth chattering. Irene pulled out sweatpants and a hoodie, putting them in front of Seulgi.

“While I get the medicine, you change into these okay?” 

Seulgi nodded, and the other woman left. Seulgi soon realized that she was in trouble. She couldn’t get her shirt off, not with her ribs being unable to twist. She managed to get it above her chest before it got stuck on her bra. After a couple of minutes of frustration, she realized that Irene would be back soon, and she had to _hurry the hell up._

Because if she couldn’t put her clothes on herself, Irene would have to help her. Yeri was asleep, not that the little gremlin would help her. She'd just let her suffer with Irene. It would be extremely awkward to ask Jaehyun for help, but at the moment, Seulgi thought that might be the best option. 

Then it was decided for her.

“Oh my,” Irene chuckled from behind her. “I guess I should help you.”

“N-no, I got it,” Seulgi stammered out. “I can do it!” Her cheeks were flushed crimson.

“Yes yes, I know,” Irene rolled her eyes, “but this will be faster.”

She gently pulled Seulgi’s shirt, allowing room for the other girl to work her arm free. She repeated the process for the other arm. As Irene pulled the hoodie onto Seulgi, the photographer felt aflame from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes. Irene looked her directly in the eyes as she asked if everything was okay, and Seulgi could only manage a small nod. 

With anyone else, and any other time, Seulgi might’ve felt embarrassed as someone undressed her. Instead, she felt _something_. Ten minutes ago she was exhausted and on the brink of death but now she felt….alive.

_What is this feeling?_

She contemplated it as Irene slowly peelied her wet pants off, allowing Seulgi to step out of her trousers. 

“Mmm,” Irene hummed in approval, earning a questioning look from Seulgi.

“Oh it’s nothing,” Irene laughed as she pulled the sweatpants up. “I just like your pink underwear. You and I are wearing the same color today.”

_OH._

_That’s a thing._

Seulgi was so glad Irene didn’t question her lack of verbal response and chalked it up to her broken rib, because _what do you say to that?_

_Can you show me?_

_Like is it the same pink or are we different color pinks?_

_Is it a thong?_

She ended up coughing as a reply, which thankfully reminded Irene about the pain medicine.

“Here take this,” she gave Seulgi a small white pill. “It’ll kill the pain, but it might make you sleepy. It’s probably for the best, since you definitely need some rest.” 

She led the photographer back to the bed. 

Seulgi never took medication if she could help it; she toughed out her wisdom teeth removal and sprained ankles with ibuprofen and a lot of ice, so the pain killer Irene gave her started to work almost instantly.

Her eyelids were growing heavy, both from the medication and the soothing motions Irene was drawing on her. The doctor was rubbing little circles into her wrist while the other was on her head, fingers gently caressing her scalp.

Seulgi was ready to fall asleep when she remembered. 

“How is Wendy?” she asked. “Is she okay now? She was okay when I saw her but I was worried.”

Seulgi looked up at Irene, and maybe it was because the medication was making her vision hazy, but it wasn't concern on her face. There was something stormy in her eyes and her face was unreadable.

And though she didn’t want to, Seulgi had agreed to deliver the message. It was worth a shot if it might bring a brighten Irene's mood.

“Wendy said that it’s not your fault and that she still loves you.”

“Thank you, Seulgi,” Irene sighed, The tinest of pulls at Irene's lips told Seulgi it worked. “Wendy is fine. She’s in good spirits and they’re working on her hand now.”

“Good,” Seulgi said. Breathing was getting easier now that the pain was subsiding. The room was starting to spin a little.

“Why did you do that?” Irene whispered softly.

Seulgi smiled sadly as she remembered. “Because she’s your Seungwan,” she said simply.

Irene looked shocked for a moment, then her face fell into that familiar warm smile Seulgi had become accustomed to over the past few days.

“You _pabo_ , yah,” Irene chastised lightly. Then she repeated, “Why would you do that?" It was less of a question and more of a statement, something the doctor didn't expect an answer to. "You almost died.”

The pain killers were working in earnest now, effectively making Seulgi sleepy drunk on the bed.

“Sometimes, you gotta be bold,” she said, words slurring a little, eyes curving into half moon crescents, “just rock the world.” 

Then she bopped Irene lightly on the nose and said, “[Booyah](https://youtu.be/JFgv8bKfxEs?t=16)!” 

Irene’s surprise wore off after a second, and she began running a hand over Seulgi’s hair again. 

“You _pabo,”_ she chuckled softly, “are you happy?”

Seulgi’s eyes were closed, her brain on the verge of sleep, but she still managed to give a last response.

“Uh huh, I’m your _pabo,_ ” she smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the tropes/plot devices yes?
> 
> Medical emergency where someone almost dies? Check.  
> Unforeseen impending weather of doom? Check.  
> No umbrellas? Check.  
> Dramatic crying?  
> Self sacrificing protagonist?  
> Bad decision making? (REALLY BAD DECISION MAKING)  
> Misunderstanding between the lovers?  
> Confession while under the influence of something?
> 
> Check. Check. Check. Check. Check.
> 
> I think the only one I couldn’t squeeze in was amnesia, but not for lack of trying. Also, 10 points to Slytherin if you know RV lyrics.


	4. SeungWan, WonderWingWoman, or Orange is the New Black

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seulgi get help with her crush but slips on the grease.

Seulgi woke without opening her eyes. Though it was admittedly the best rest she’d had in a while, she still felt tired. Opening her eyes just seemed like too much at the moment, and so she shifted a little, intending to sleep a little longer. When she rolled to readjust, something uncomfortable wedged itself between the bed and her back, forcing her eyes open. 

The first thing she realized was that she was not in her tent. She took a second to look around, slowly remembering the previous day’s events. Then she spotted the offending object. 

Irene had fallen asleep on a chair beside her, her body slouched down to the arm rests and her legs resting partly on Seulgi’s bed. Her feet were right where Seulgi had intended to move, her ankle digging into Seulgi’s spine. A blanket was falling halfway off her lap onto the floor.

Seulgi would’ve gasped in surprise, except the pain medication had worn off and breathing was again a literal pain in her side. The night's events rushed back, and remembered being lulled to sleep by Irene’s caresses.

She pushed herself up as quietly as possible, trying to avoid waking Irene. Seulgi took a moment to watch the doctor, how even though her head was lolling and her body awkwardly positioned, she still looked beautiful. 

_Why did she sleep like that_? Seulgi wondered. There had to be another bed somewhere.

With the blanket nearly on the ground, Seulgi intended to redrape it over Irene. This time, however, she wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. She wasn’t even going to _look_ in the general area of Irene’s midsection. She kept her eyes deliberately averted, groping on the floor for the blanket until she found it. Then she cautiously tried to place the blanket over the other woman’s shoulders, her head tilted at an awkward angle. She did the best she could, and knowing that she was getting dangerously close to Irene’s pouty lips, she kept her vision squarely on the tent ceiling. 

Her already thundering heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she heard Yeri hiss from the doorway.

“ _What are you doing?!”_

Seulgi’s vision refocused on the girl in the entranceway.

“I’m putting the blanket back on her!” Seulgi whispered.

“Really?” Yeri whispered back. “Cause it looks like you’re trying to get in the _hashtag_ cookie jar!” She made a crude hashtag with her fingers that vaguely resembled a gang sign.

“I’m not!” Seulgi replied hotly, “I just don’t wanna look at the--” Seulgi left the word unsaid, instead using a cocked eyebrow to tell Yeri exactly what she was avoiding.

“Oh,” Yeri rolled her eyes, as she mouthed silently, “You’re an indian.” 

Or she could’ve been mouthing, “You’re an idiot,” Seulgi wasn’t sure, she was never very good at lip reading. Yeri scoffed one more time at Seulgi and left.

Her distraction finally gone, Seulgi continued her awkward, blind lean-and-drop, draping the blanket onto Irene’s shoulders. Finally finished, she glanced at the doctor to make sure she was still sleeping. What she found were two impossibly deep brown eyes staring back at her, and the smallest of smirks accompanying them.

“Oh,” was all Seulgi could manage. She was so close to Irene’s face. Her eyes flickered between brown eyes and red lips and back up again. 

Her heart had stopped racing. No, this time it was beating slowly, every thump loud and clear in her chest, like a steady marching drum, giving her mind a beat to latch on too. Her gaze shifted down again to Irene’s lips and saw they had parted slightly.

How easy it would be if Seulgi just leaned forward and pressed her lips against---

She straightened up, giving an awkward cough. “Your uh, your blanket fell off, and I, uh, I was putting it back on you.”

“I saw,” Irene nodded, like nothing was amiss, “thank you.”

A dense silence followed; it seemed Irene was waiting for Seulgi to make a move. So Seulgi did what she did best in mushy situations.

She left. Walked right out of the tent and to the mess hall.

* * *

“Did you really do that?” Yeri said as she rubbed her face. They were in the helicopter now, heading back to the main camp. “You’re hopeless, _Slowgi._ ”

Seulgi shrugged her shoulders in wordless indifference. Yeri was right after all. What could Seulgi do? Her chest thundered like a stampede whenever she was around Dr. Bae, but the woman’s heart beat for someone else. So Seulgi was stuck in _Second Lead Limbo_ , pining after the main girl of the story while she loved someone else.

Yeri seemed to sense her need for separation, and let her sit in silence for the remainder of the ride. Thankfully, Irene had left on another chopper soon after the incident for administrative reasons, leaving Seulgi to brood over it alone.

“There it is,” Yeri said as they approached the main compound. “Good ol’ SM Town. Never thought I’d be excited to see it again.”

“SM Town?” Seulgi asked. “When did we start calling it that?”

“Ever since Suho beat Minho at rock-paper-scissors and got to put his name first. Otherwise we’d have MS Town.”

“Irene didn’t want to play?”

“Oh, she already won. This was the consolation prize.”

“What was first place?”

“Getting to sit next to you on the helicopter ride over.”

“What?!” Seulgi choked.

“ _Ahahaha_ ,” Yeri chortled. “You should see your face right now!”

Seulgi pinched the younger girl. “Explain yourself!”

“Calm down,” Yeri pushed Seulgi away. “It was a joke. First place was showering first everyday.”

“So?”

“So there’s only ever enough hot water for one person.”

“Oh. I didn't even now we had hot water.”

“Yeah exactly.” Yeri crossed her arms. “Much better prize than you.”

“Yah!” Seulgi shouted with a shove.

* * *

Joy pulled both Seulgi and Yeri into a group hug as soon as she saw them. 

“I was so worried! Well, not like too worried, just a little worried, but I am so glad you guys are alive!” 

“Ohkay, it’s good to see you too,” Yeri grimaced as she slithered out of the embrace. “I’m hungry, let’s eat.” Without another word, she headed for the mess tent.

“Thanks.” Seulgi let go of Joy and smiled.

“How are you? They told me you fell out of a helicopter.”

Seulgi frowned. “I wish they wouldn’t make me sound so incompetent. I was rappelling down to lighten the helicopter.”

They walked into the mess tent, following after the youngest.

“Why did you even do that?” Joy asked with concern. “That’s so dangerous.”

“I just wanted to help,” Seulgi shrugged, sitting across from Yeri. “You know me.”

“I do know you,” Joy replied with a shake of her head. “ _Carpe die_ or _diem._ ”

“Also to impress Dr. _Babe,_ ” Yeri stated matter-of-factly.

“Her name is Dr. Bae,” Seulgi corrected.

“Or that,” Yeri agreed, unconcerned. “She could be your bae or babe, I think you could call her either.”

“She _is_ a Bae,” Seulgi said, ears turning red.

“Yeah, I know,” Yeri nodded. “Irene the bae.”

“No,” Seulgi said hotly, “Dr. Irene is a _Bae_.”

“That’s what she just said,” Joy chimed in, casually waving a hand. “No one’s arguing with you on that one, but you also haven’t argued against Yeri’s accusation that you jumped out of a helicopter to impress a girl.” She fixed Seulgi with a cheeky smirk.

“I--”

The tent flap opened and a familiar blonde head of hair entered, distracting all three from their topic.

“Wendy!”

“Wendy unnie!”

Dr. Son grinned at the trio and walked over. Her hand was in a blue cast, but she looked no less worse for the wear. She walked over to Seulgi and opened her arms wide.

“What?” Seulgi looked at her, perplexed.

“Stand up,” Wendy commanded, without explaining further. Seulgi did as she was told, and Wendy wrapped her arms around the other girl in a hug.

“Thank you so much for what you did. I barely even know you, but you risked your life for me. They told me you almost died, and you ended up saving my life. So thank you.”

Seulgi nodded in the other girl’s embrace, feeling a bit guilty as thoughts of Irene flashed in her mind. She pushed them away and focused on Wendy.

“You’re welcome,” Seulgi said honestly. “How’s your hand?” 

“Pretty good actually,” Wendy said as she sat down. “This little baby means I can’t help with the camp physicals.” She held up her casted hand.

“What’s the big deal about that?” Yeri asked.

“That means no DRE's for me,” she grinned.

“I don’t get it,” Seulgi said, confused.

“Normally this is where I explain what she’s missed, but I’m with Seulgi on this one,” Joy said. “I don’t get it.”

“Digital rectal exams,” Wendy explained.

“Ohhhhhh,” Joy nodded, before adding, “yeah no, that didn’t help. Sounds gross, but what’s the big deal if they’re digital? They’re just on a screen.”

“Oh no,” Wendy explained further. “Digital meaning digits.” She wiggled the fingers on her unbroken hand.

“Oh,” Joy said, eyes widening. “Shit.”

Wendy nodded her head in a so-so manner, and shrugged, “Yeah, sometimes.” She turned to Seulgi.

“Anyway, enough about my _pillow princess_ excuse, how are you? Since you fell out of a chopper?”

Seulgi groaned indignantly. “I did not fall out of a chopper. It was too heavy so I lowered myself off, but I didn’t have enough rope.”

“And that's when you fell?” Wendy asked.

Seulgi nodded.

“So you still technically fell out of the chopper?” Joy asked.

Seulgi looked from left to right, every set of eyes had the same look, saying, _bitch,_ _you fell out of a chopper._ Seulgi wondered when Wendy had joined the Maknae Line to gang up on her.

“Technically,” she acquiesced.

“And you broke a rib?” Wendy asked, wincing.

“Yeah, that really, really hurt, and I had to walk back to camp.”

“Jeeeeezus,” Joy grimaced. “ _127 hours Dd_ eulgi, ladies and gents.”

Wendy nodded, and said, “Joohyunnie told me that you looked terrible when you got back to camp--”

“She looked like ass,” Yeri confirmed.

“--and she had to give you some strong pain killers just so you could breathe.”

“Yeah,” Seulgi nodded, “she gave me enough to last until the pain subsides. Please tell her thank you for me. I haven’t really been able to thank her properly.”

“Not for lack of trying,” Yeri muttered, which earned her a kick under the table.

Suddenly, Seulgi’s inner masochist felt its need to be known, and she then said, “Irene was really worried about you, you know. I’ve never seen her look so emotional before.”

“Hmm,” Wendy hummed, “yeah I kind of expected it. Especially since she told me to get on the chopper. I told her it wasn’t her fault, but she’s so stubborn, she never listens. Just puts all the blame on her shoulders.” Wendy shook her head and laughed.

Seulgi was a little irked. She’d seen Irene on the verge of a breakdown, wracked in guilt because she thought Wendy had died, and here said woman was, almost flippantly disregarding her feelings.

“Well, of course she’d be worried,” Seulgi said with a rare flare of anger, “I’d expect any girlfriend to be worried.”

There was an uncomfortable pause. No one moved. Wendy broke the silence.

“Girlfriend?” The blonde's eyes were wide as saucers, pointing a finger at her own chest. “You think me? And Joohyun? Dating?”

Then Wendy erupted in laughter. Aghast, Seulgi looked at her other two companions for answers. Joy was rolling her eyes and Yeri was shaking her head with pursed lips. Finally, Wendy came up for air, her eyes red with tears.

“Oh haha,” she said as she wiped her eyes, “I guess I could see how that would happen, but no, Joohyunnie and I are just best friends. We’ve known each other since we were children. I’m sure you probably noticed, but she doesn’t take to new people well. But once you get in her friend circle, you’re in there like swimwear.”

“Oh,” Seulgi said, mind blanking. “Sorry, I guess I just assumed, since you said you loved her and you call her Joohyunnie. I thought that was like a special name for her.”

“Oh no no,” Wendy waved off. “Her real name is Bae Joohyun. She only adopted Irene when she started to work internationally. White people can’t seem to say her name.”

“You mean Trump,” Joy said, not posing it as a question.

“I mean Trump,” Wendy nodded in affirmation. 

“Is that racist?” Seulgi asked. “If we say white people?”

“He mocked our accents,” Joy shrugged. “I figure we’re more or less even now.”

“Caucasians would be the _PC_ term,” Yeri added, “and in this case, I think I’d agree that he’s quite the cock, but not an asian.”

When the other three just stared at her, she shrugged, “Yeah sorry, I don’t know where I was going with that.”

“So you guys aren’t going out?” Seulgi asked, dragging the conversation back for her morbid curiosity. “She called you ‘My Seungwan,’ and you just casually say ‘I love you’ to her.”

“Nope,” Wendy shrugged. “She’s a little possessive so she’s been calling me her Seungwan ever since Eric Nam stole me away to be his science fair partner in the fourth grade.” She whispered behind a hand, in a very mocking attempt at concealing a secret, “Also, I’m pretty greasy.”

“Greasy?” 

“Y’know, cheesey, bawdy, lascivious, whatever you wanna call it. I quote Titanic lines and sing _Can You Feel the Love Tonight_ at random moments. Like this.”

Wendy clasped Joy’s hand to her chest, and with the utmost conviction, blubbered, “I’ll never let go Joy, I’ll never let go.” She added an extra sob for seasoning.

Rather than play along like Seulgi expected, Joy snatched her hand back. She shyly tucked her hair behind her ear as a faint blush crept up her cheeks.

“Wait,” Wendy held up a finger, distracted yet again. Her eyebrows suddenly furrowed. “Is that why you did the _Armageddon_ thing? Cause Irene was crying cause I might die and you thought we were dating?”

“Ah--” Seulgi didn’t know how to respond.

“We thought it was to impress Irene,” Yeri said, pointing at thumb between Joy and herself, “but your theory sounds more like _Seulgay_ here.”

“Damn girl,” Wendy saluted, impressed. “That is some Captain America-level nobility.”

“She’s definitely the noble _pabo_ of our group,” Yeri agreed.

Wendy slapped a hand on the table, making everyone jump. “Okay, here’s what we're gonna do. Since you’re into Joohyunnie--”

Seulgi started to protest. “I’m not--” 

“Shhhh,” Joy cut her off. “Everyone here knows it, so just be quiet.”

Seulgi shrunk back into her seat.

Wendy picked up where she left off. “So since you like Joohyunnie, I’m gonna be your wingwoman.” She clicked her tongue.

“You’re going to what?” Seulgi asked dumbfounded.

“I’m going to help you woo Joohyun.”

“Why?”

“Because you fell--”

“In love?” Yeri supplied.

“No, because she fell out--”

“Jumped--” Seulgi corrected.

“--of a helicopter for her,” Wendy finished. “I think you at least deserve a shot. And who better to help you than her best friend?” She beamed proudly, crossing her arms.

“I like this idea,” Joy grinned. “What could go wrong?”

Seulgi wasn’t sure if that was sarcasm or not.

* * *

Wendy had a lot of ideas, but that wasn't very surprising to Seulgi; she was Irene's best friend after all. Wendy coached her in techniques she could use to entice Dr. Bae. They put the first one to the test the next morning.

_“Okay, so you gotta be cool," Wendy had said. "You wanna get in there and just be the shit."_

_"Right," Seulgi nodded, "the shit."_

_“Swag,” Wendy said as she moved about, dancing to a reggae beat that didn’t exist._

_“Swag,” Seulgi nodded in understanding, mimicking the other girl._

_Wendy flipped up the hood on her sweater. "Do it like[this](https://youtu.be/FrxbBzuA8YA?list=PLa2yUCwJcy9_UXM97xXYZSxN7SKj7Wwqp&t=495)…" _

Irene was in the breakfast line, sliding her tray along as she picked out food. Wendy shoved Seulgi towards her, along with a few words of encouragement. 

"Okay, just like we practiced. You got this, Seul."

_Right._

_Be cool. Be confident. Like we practiced._

She pulled her hood over her head and hiked the sleeves up a little, doing her best _oppa_ impersonation. Her palms were sweaty, but she calmly grabbed a tray and slid up next to Irene.

Though initially surprised, upon realizing who it was, the doctor gave a dazzling smile in greeting. 

"Hi Seulgi," she said brightly.

Seulgi had to resist every urge in her body that wanted to yell back, "Hello!" with a big grin on her face. That wasn't how she was coached.

_Swag._

Instead, she gave a noncommittal response, like she was too cool to be there.

"Mmm," she said, with a lazy flick of her head. It felt terribly awkward, so unlike her usual self, and she looked to Wendy for reassurance. The blonde girl was hiding behind the drink fountain, giving Seulgi a very enthusiastic two thumbs up. So the photographer continued.

"Irene," she muttered in a low voice. She stumbled a bit over the next words. "I, uh-I gotchu today. Th-this one's on me." She put the apple she was holding on Irene's tray and clicked her tongue, giving her best haughty sneer. 

"Oh, okay," Irene replied with wide eyes, clearly bewildered. "But these were already free," she stammered. 

"Uh, right," Seulgi said, feeling very dumb now. She turned around and walked away, leaving her breakfast tray and a confused Irene completely behind.

She didn't notice Yeri and Joy sniggering in the corner. 

* * *

“Okay, that didn’t go as well as I had hoped,” Wendy admitted. “But don’t worry, we have a lot more tricks up our sleeve.”

Seulgi nodded with commitment, fully invested in Wendy’s plans.

“Right, so Joohyunnie is probably feeling a bit out of sorts after the whole helicopter ‘incident’ this week,” Wendy made air quotes, “and you’ve left her hanging twice, so you’re gonna have to be extra charming.”

“Yeah,” Seulgi nodded vigorously, “I can be charming.”

“Okay, now practice [this](https://youtu.be/OKB27KMvanc?t=255).” Wendy leveled her gaze at Seulgi, dropping her chin just a bit to give off a detached vibe. Hand on her hip, she sneered, “I won’t accept it, you’re mine.”

“Whoa,” Seulgi clapped, “so cool!”

“Right?” Wendy said with bright eyes. “Now you try.”

Seulgi maneuvered herself into position, pouting her lips in what she thought was an aloof manner. “I won’t accept it, you’re mine.”

“Not bad,” Wendy said as she circled Seulgi, “but you’re too happy. Be a little more serious. We gotta show Joohyunnie you’re not joking.”

Seulgi tried again, lowering her gaze almost into a squint, one side of her mouth tilting up into a scoff. “I _won’t accept it, you’re mine.”_

“Whoa,” Wendy said, fake swooning with a hand on her forehead. “That’s it.”

“So when do I say this?” 

“You’ll know the moment,” Wendy said confidently. “Wait til you’re alone with her. I’m sure after these last few days, she’ll be stressed out about the expedition and you’ll be perfect to reboost her energy.”

* * *

Reassured from Wendy’s coaching session, Seulgi strutted confidently around the compound, intending to use her free time to touch up some images. Her traitorous stomach had other ideas though. Nearly at her tent, her stomach let loose a loud growl to remind her that she had left her breakfast at the altar and was now threatening to skip lunch. She detoured to the mess tent instead.

Five minutes later, she emerged happily, arms full of fruits and sandwiches, which she would munch on as she sat at her computer. Halfway across the yard, a voice called out to her.

“Kang Seulgi!”

She turned in the direction of the voice, and saw her current favorite (and simultaneously least favorite) person rushing to catch up to her.

“Hey,” Irene said when she was beside Seulgi.

“Hi,” she replied sheepishly, dropping an orange in the process.

“Are you okay?” Irene picked up the fallen fruit.

Seulgi nodded mutely.

“You just left in the middle of breakfast without a word.” Irene cocked her head. “You’ve been acting a bit strange. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I-uh,” Seulgi struggled to find the words to explain what she did without flat out lying. “I uh, got confused, and I had to talk to Wendy about something. I think I’ve also been kind of stressed out lately,” she said as she scratched the back of her head. That last bit was definitely not a lie.

“I understand,” Irene nodded sympathetically. “The past few days have been quite a rollercoaster. 

“Wendy mentioned that you might be feeling a bit stressed out too.”

“Yes,” Irene nodded with a deep sigh. “Leading this medical team isn’t the easiest job in the world, but I think I’m managing okay. Thank you for asking.” She gave Seulgi a small smile that could light up Seoul. 

“Seulgi-ya,” Irene said after a couple of moments, “is it okay if I call you that? I’d like to think that we’ve become close enough to be a bit more casual.”

“Yes, I’d like that,” Seulgi shyly smiled, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to be haughty. “With one condition though.”

“Hmm?”

“May I call you Joohyun?”

Irene’s lips slowly turned upwards into a soft smile and she said, “Of course.”

“Bae Joohyun,” Seulgi tried it out, liking the way it flowed off her tongue. "Bae Joohyun."

“Yes, Seulgi-ya?”

“When you get overwhelmed or stressed, you can always talk to me. Joy and Yeri say I’m boring, but sometimes that’s helpful if you want to vent.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Irene chuckled behind her hand, “Thank you.”

Seulgi nodded with an eye smile.

“What do you do for fun? Or to relieve stress?” Irene asked.

“Me?” Seulgi pondered it for a bit. “I like to listen to music or draw, sometimes I’ll play video games.”

Irene perked up. “What video games?”

“Oh anything,” Seulgi shrugged. “I’m pretty good at most of them.”

Irene fell quiet again, silently chewing on her fingernail. Seulgi was about to ask her if something was wrong before she spoke up.

“What are you doing tonight? Do you want to come over to my tent and hang out?”

_Oh? Hang out at Irene’s? She’s asking me over?_

Seulgi’s brain was struggling, having to shift gears from first to fifth. 

“Sure!” she practically shouted, before she remembered she was supposed to be aloof and all anime _tsundere._

“Sure,” she repeated, a lot more calmly. Despite the calm facade, she was internally panicking. Their conversation was about to end and she hadn’t yet used the phrase she practiced with Wendy.

 _“You’ll know the moment,” Wendy’s voice echoed in her head_.

“Perfect,” Irene clapped her hands, “I have Mario Kart and Mario Party and we can play some. I’m probably the best player in this entire compound.”

“Uh, okay,” Seulgi replied distractedly. _Should I say it now?_ She didn’t even hear Irene's next words.

“So, let’s see,” Irene said with a thoughtful finger on her chin, “why don’t we say 8:30? It’ll be after all the meetings and dinner.” She added jokingly, “You’re goin’ down, Seulgi-ya.”

_Better now than never._

Seulgi squared her shoulders and focused her gaze on Irene. With a sneer, she nearly growled out the words to Irene, “I won’t accept it. You’re mine.”

Irene looked shocked for a second, before leveling her stare at Seulgi. “Oh really?” she scoffed. “We’ll see.” Then she turned on a heel and was walking away. She stopped after a moment. “Tell Joy and Yeri to come. I’ll bring Seungwan. I want them to see this.” Then she continued on.

 _To see what?_ Seulgi thought for a moment, before she realized that Irene had asked her over. Wendy’s plan had worked. She nearly skipped to the medical tent, dropping her food a couple more times. When she found the other woman, she pulled her into a hug.

“You did it! You did it! She asked me over to her place!” 

Wendy’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head, and in a second, they were jumping around in a big circle hug.

“Tell me what happened,” Wendy shouted when they had calmed down a bit. Seulgi recanted the story, and with each passing sentence, the blonde’s smile fell further and further until she was aghast in horror.

“No no no no no,” Wendy fretted, pacing in a circle. “This is bad. This is very, very bad.”

“I don’t understand,” Seulgi frowned. “How is this bad? She asked me to come over. I don’t like that she invited everyone else, but at least it’s a start.”

“This is bad because Joohyun is [competitive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZSfveZsbbY) at Mario Kart. Like she’ll flat your tires in a race competitive. Like Houston Astros sign-stealing competitive. Like take a knife to Nancy Kerrigan competitive. Like--”

“I got it, I got it,” Seulgi said. Her fingers pulled at her face. “But what am I gonna do? I’m dead meat. I already agreed.”

“Obviously, you have to go, and so do I.” 

Seulgi nodded.

“And you have to bring Joy and Yeri. You’re gonna need backup, or at least someone else Joohyun won’t mind beating into the ground.”

Seulgi shivered. What had she gotten into?

“And,” Wendy added. “We’re gonna have to practice some more.”

* * *

Seulgi swallowed nervously as she followed the other woman into the tent.

"Uh, Yeri and Joy are on their way," she said, wanting to break the nervous tension in the air. 

"Mm," Irene replied. "Seungwannie is coming back with snacks as well." She seemed oblivious to Seulgi's fidgeting.

Seulgi stood in the middle of nowhere, somewhere between an austere-looking couch, a small flat screen TV, a cot and a table. Unsure of what to do, she stood still, waiting for the doctor to direct her. When Irene spotted her standing like an out of place lamp, she laughed.

"Sit down silly," she gestured. "We can play a round before everyone else gets here."

Seulgi sat on the couch and Joohyun followed, sitting next to her. She handed Seulgi a controller and turned on the TV. The game started up, blasting their ear drums as the volume was unbearably high. After the initial shock wore off, Irene quickly looked around for the remote. 

“There!” she shouted to Seulgi, pointing somewhere to the left, but Seulgi couldn’t see the object she was looking for. 

“There!” Joohyun pointed again, yet Seulgi still had no idea where it was. Finally giving up, Irene put a hand on Seulgi’s knee and leaned over to grab it herself.

Before she realized what she was doing, Seulgi had looked down at the woman nearly laying across her, and she spotted an offending piece of lingerie peeking out of her shorts.

_Oh no._

Seulgi inadvertently froze, stiffening up as she saw yet _another_ piece of Joohyun’s intimates. 

Irene had already adjusted the volume and was pushing herself off of Seulgi. Noticing the other girl’s face getting blue, she asked, “Are you okay? You look weird.”

“Orange is my favorite color!” Seulgi gasped, immediately wanting to slap her herself. 

“Wow, that was really out of nowhere, but I’ll keep that in mind for later.”

 _Damnit,_ Seulgi chastised herself. She was supposed to be calm and collected, but that was always the last thing she ever was around the doctor. It seemed like she was always set to blubbering imbecile by default. 

Seulgi drew in a couple of deep, slow breaths to steady herself. Now that her pulse had settled from the Frantic range down to just Panicked, she resumed her original task: wooing Joohyun.

_“Unnie has the prettiest hair,” Wendy had said, as if Seulgi didn’t already learn that in the first five seconds of meeting the doctor. “A lot of times it falls in her face or gets in her way. You can be super suave and brush it back for her.”_

_The blonde[swept a hand](https://youtu.be/ea874tXtrPM?list=PLa2yUCwJcy9_UXM97xXYZSxN7SKj7Wwqp&t=166) under Seulgi’s chin, brushing her collarbone as she swept the latter’s hair back. _

_“Ohhh,” Seulgi nodded, “that's so smooth!”_

_“And don’t forget to wink when you do it!”_

They started the first race, Joohyun picking Princess Peach and Seulgi selecting Yoshi. The doctor quickly took the lead, never relenting as she held onto first for the entire race. Seulgi would’ve been impressed if she weren’t so distracted.

Irene’s cheering startled her; Seulgi hadn’t even noticed the race ended. The other woman was dancing in front of her, taunting her.

“Who owns who now?” Irene jeered, firing off imaginary pistols at Seulgi.

Seulgi didn’t know what to say. Between figuring out when to brush Joohyun’s hair back and this newly exposed boisterous Joohyun, Seulgi was at a loss for words.

Before she realized it, another race had started, and just like the one before, the other woman took the lead. Seulgi raced comfortably in fourth place, deciding that at the end of the third lap, she would use _The Sweep._

As Irene was nearing the end of the final lap, Seulgi looked over. The doctor’s face was scrunched in concentration, brow furrowed as she maneuvered the character to victory. Her hair was in slight disarray, falling a little haphazardly in her face. It was beautiful. She almost forgot her original intention.

“Joohyun?” 

“Hm?” she responded, not breaking eye contact with the screen now that victory was so close. Seulgi scooted a little closer, a move imperceptible to the other woman. The photographer slowly reached a hand out and pushed the hair out of Irene’s face, gently brushing her neck as well.

Whatever Seulgi expected, it wasn’t what actually happened. Maybe she expected a flustered Joohyun and a few seconds of sexual tension, or maybe a coy Joohyun who looked at Seulgi with half-lidded eyes. What she didn’t expect was a startled Joohyun who flailed her arms in surprise and whacked Seulgi on the nose with her controller.

“Owwww,” she lamented, pinching the bridge of her nose, feeling hot liquid running down.

“Hey, sounds like you guys started all the fun without --- _OH MY GOD!_ ” Wendy shouted as she came into the tent, followed closely by Joy and Yeri. She knelt down beside Seulgi, who was nursing a bloody nose, and Joohyun, who looked ashamed.

“Alright, upsy daisy,” Wendy dragged Seulgi to her feet. “I’ll take care of this.”

“I can do it, Seungwan-ah.”

“I got it unnie,” Wendy said brightly. “You should get to know Yeri and Joy better.” She nodded her head at them.

* * *

A couple of minutes later they were in a nearby tent with the first aid kit.

“Hold that there and tell me what happened,” Wendy pressed some gauze to Seulgi’s bloody nose.

The latter shrugged. “I did what we practiced, but she was busy concentrating on the game and I guess I caught her off guard. She hit me in the face with the game controller.”

Wendy’s mouth formed a big O and she nodded in understanding. “Yeah, so I may have forgotten to mention that. She doesn’t like surprises. And she [gets surprised easily.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLagDHY5Llo)”

“I think I figured that out.”

“She doesn’t like loud things and I think sometimes she has [super human hearing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcDLdd7vDvw). Like I wouldn’t be surprised if she could hear us now.”

Seulgi’s eyes widened in shock. “You think so?” Her voice dropped to a whisper.

“I dunno,” Wendy whispered back. “Maybe? We should probably head back before they come and look for us.”

“I didn’t even get to use the wink,” Seulgi lamented. “I should also probably mention that I [can’t wink](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHerxhIQLKY).”

* * *

“Hey whatcha guys talking about?” Wendy said as they reentered the tent, Seulgi a step behind. She noticed Irene’s eyes narrowed as she watched the pair enter together, but when Seulgi looked back, her usual impassive expression was back.

“We were talking about you two,” Yeri answered.

“Us?”

“Yeah, how you guys are the new _no-jam_ duo,” Joy said.

“[We are totally yes-jam](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDcFB37rEPA),” Seulgi said defensively. “ _Yup yup yup,”_ she said with a hand tutting motion.

Wendy nodded. “We got more jam than traffic in LA.” Joy and Yeri joined in on the tuttting chopping dance. “ _Yup yup yup.”_

“We got more jam than bread in a sandwich. " _Yup yup yup.”_ This time Irene joined in and they all shared in the laughter.

“Oh yeah,” Yeri guffawed, “You guys are _so jam._ ”

“Uhm, Seulgi-ya?” Irene said quietly after the photographer reclaimed her seat.

“Yes?”

“I’m so sorry for hitting you. I get startled easily and--”

“Don’t worry about it,” Seulgi gave her biggest most convincing smile, even though it made her nose sting a bit. “I know it was an accident.”

“Are you okay though? I’d hate for it to have ruined your night.”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Seulgi reassured her.

Sensing Seulgi wasn’t lying, Irene finally broke out into a sly grin. “Great, because I’m going to show everyone in this tent that I can wipe the floor with you at Mario Kart.”

Seulgi only laughed.

They passed around the popcorn the trio brought, and started a new game of Mario Kart. Just as Seulgi expected, Joohyun placed first every race. After each victory, she hopped around gleefully, earning laughs from Wendy and Seulgi and baffled reactions from Joy and Yeri as they failed again to defeat her. Since Wendy’s hand was in a cast, she spent her time whispering encouragement to Joohyun and trying to distract the other three. She toppled over into Joy in one of her more vigorous attempts, taking out Yeri in the process. Seulgi couldn’t remember when she had laughed so much.

Thus far, Seulgi was batting zero in the _Court Bae Joohyun_ sweepstakes. She glanced over towards the doctor, who happened to be looking back at her. Sitting on opposite sides of the room, their eyes connected. Seulgi was sure her pupils were quivering, but she held Joohyun’s gaze, unwilling to be the first to waver. Then, after a beat, those doe eyes blinked, and Joohyun’s face morphed into a big grin, eyes folding into little crescents, laughing at something Wendy said, yet still never breaking eye contact. Seulgi mirrored the smile.

In this game, Seulgi had no idea where she stood. Whether she was winning or losing, or even on the board. Sometimes she even wondered if she even knew what the end game was. But right now, she didn’t care. 

And that was alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm attention starved and comments keep me alive, so please write nice things to me. 
> 
> Also, Wendy is probably my favorite, and I have little doubt that were she to try set someone up, it would more or less go like this.
> 
> Rest up, after this the story is gonna get all Zimzalabim (I mean that in the sense that we'll be dropping off edge in that roller coaster, and you may be left wondering which way is up). The story might start to mirror current real events (COVID-19), but the idea for this story came from something completely different. It's just an unfortunate coincidence.


	5. See food, Seafood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seulgi drops in, Irene drops a bomb.

As she peeled the skin off an orange, Seulgi took the time to enjoy her breakfast, relishing in the solitude and silence that had become so rare at such a busy compound. Over the past week, SM Town had slowly turned into a germ metropolis. Everyday, the staff was alerted to a new breakout in the vicinity. Team members were dispatched to isolate and collect them, and one of Seulgi’s team members accompanied them.

“I was thinking,” Joy interrupted unceremoniously, dropping her tray loudly on the table and ending any meditation time Seulgi had left, “we should have a team name.” She indicated herself, Seulgi and Yeri, who had just sat down.

“Why?”

“Because we’re the only department without one.”

“So?” 

“So I hate having to say, ‘Kang Seulgi’s Photography Company, LLC’ everytime they ask for us. The Canadians mostly call themselves _NCT_ , Neo Canada Transportation, and everyone calls Suho’s administration _EXO_.”

At Seulgi’s confused face, she explained, “Short for Executives. And, the medical team is the _Bae-hive_.”

“Oh, like Beyonce,” Yeri said.

“Yep,” Joy nodded.

“I like Beyonce,” Seulgi chimed in.

“Not the point here,” Joy waved dismissively. “Point is, we need a name.”

“And you’re suggesting?”

“Team Rocket!” she said gleefully. “I think Wendy is a better fit than Katy here, but we’ll roll with it.”

“I think you should know,” Yeri said with absolute sincerity that was completely out of character, “that I will not call us Team Rocket.”

“Me neither,” Seulgi added.

“Well then, I guess now would be the perfect time to spring the bad news about Dr. Bae.”

“What? What bad news?” Seulgi sat up straighter, instantly picturing the worst case scenario.

“[She doesn’t like seafood](https://youtu.be/0VjI_2Emv7s?t=57).”

“So?”

“She doesn’t like oysters especially. Says she dislikes that squishy taste.”

Seulgi made a face. “So what’s the bad news? What does that have to do...with...me,” she trailed off when Yeri and Joy cackled loudly and controllably. Her ears and face flushed red once she made the connection.

“What’s so funny?” Wendy asked, suddenly appearing above them.

“Nothing much, just the usual _Kkangseul_ being _Kkangseul,”_ Joy said as she shifted over so Wendy could sit down. “Speaking of, how is _WWJD_ going?

“What would Jesus do?” Seulgi asked, perplexed.

“Who would Joohyun do?” Yeri supplied helpfully.

“ _Wendy’s Woo Joohyun for Dummies_ ,” Joy clarified.

“Meh,” Wendy sighed. “It’s harder than I thought it would be. Even though Seulgi’s the catch that she is.”

“Well, nobody’s really been in the compound lately, what with all the new cases,” Joy said, in an oddly sympathetic voice.

“Yeah, you’re right,” the doctor agreed. “I haven’t really seen Joohyunnie that much either. She and Minho have been called out almost every day this week.”

It was true. Seulgi hadn’t been able to talk to Joohyun since the video game night. The most she saw of her was when she came into the mess tent to grab food, and even then she didn’t hang about, taking her tray back with her to her office, only stopping long enough to tell Seulgi hi.

Seulgi was starting to miss the fluttery feeling in her chest whenever the doctor was near. It was almost as if Seulgi wasn’t herself without Joohyun coming by and inadvertently flustering Seulgi with her underwear. Was that all there was to it?

“Guys,” Seulgi said abruptly. She voiced her sudden insecurities aloud. “What if this is all wrong?”

“What do you mean?” Joy asked, honestly confused.

“I mean, what if I don’t really like her for her?” Seulgi fretted. “Sometimes, I wonder if I just like her for her unbeatable face or even just her sexy underwear. Isn’t that superficial?”

She looked around the table for answers.

“Well,” Wendy said slowly and thoughtfully, “I’d expect that it’d be super fishy; it’s her underwear after all, and it’s next to her _hoo-hah,_ so--”

“Not super fishy, superficial,” Joy whispered behind her hand.

“Oh,” Wendy paused. “That makes more sense. Wait, why are we talking about her underwear anyway?”

“ _Ddeulgi_ is having a crisis about the origins of her [ _Renebaebae_ ](https://www.instagram.com/renebaebae/)crush.” Despite the flippant remark, Joy turned to Seulgi and said seriously, “Look, I think your feelings are honest.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Let’s be real, if all it took was a pretty face and some underwear to get you to fall apart, you would’ve had to fire me a long time ago.” She gave Seulgi a sultry wink.

Joy had a point. A really roundabout and narcissistic point, but she got it across. 

“Excuse me,” Minho interrupted them. “Seulgi-ssi? Could I talk to you outside please?”

Seulgi nodded and followed the man. Once outside, he turned to her and started talking. Seulgi immediately noticed that he was much looser that before, compared to the uptight version of himself that had been walking around previously .

“First, I wanted to say thank you. I’m forever grateful for what you did that day on the ridge, and I’m sorry it took so long for me to find you to say this.” He gave her a warm smile.

“It’s okay, you’re welcome,” she replied with a demure shake of her head. “I’m just glad everyone is alright.”

“For the most part, yeah,” he sighed. When Seulgi cocked her head in question, he elaborated. “You already know Wendy got out with a fractured wrist and broken fingers, but Taeyong had a puncture wound that required an emergency appendectomy. He’s recovering in the hospital.”

“Oh wow.”

“The virus patient tested negative, but he’s still on antibiotics for an unrelated infection.”

“What about Kai and Henry?” Seulgi asked, remembering the two pilots.

“That’s kind of why I’m here,” he said a little nervously. “They’re on a two week no fly protocol. Standard procedure after going unconscious,” he explained. “We need to fly out to another location, but it’s a no land zone.”

“So you need me to come with you to another location?”

“I do,” he nodded. “And I need you to bring the longest telephoto lens you have.”

“Is this a one day thing?”

“Yes,” he nodded, “We should be back by the evening.” He hesitated, seemingingly on the verge of voicing a thought.

“What is it?” Seulgi asked.

“Nothing,” he shook his head. “I’ll see you at the landing pad in an hour.” Then he walked away, leaving Seulgi with the feeling something was missing.

* * *

When Seulgi walked up to the helicopter, it was not as she envisioned. Minho was there, as expected, as was Mark, but alongside them was the petite frame of Dr. Bae, who looked like she wished to be anywhere else.

“What are you doing here?” Seulgi blurted out.

Joohyun shot her a dark look. “It’s nice to see you too.” She turned away and began tightening her harness.

“Uh, I’m sorry,” Seulgi stammered out apologetically, “I didn’t mean it like that. I just didn’t know you were going to be here. Minho didn’t give me a lot of details.”

“I’m sorry,” Irene sighed. “It’s not you. I’m a bit on edge. I haven’t done anything like this in a while.”

“What exactly is ‘this’ anyway?” Seulgi indicated the unfamiliar equipment around them. She recognized the long wire basket, it was used as a means to life people from the ground to the helicopter in rescue operations, but there was a square box about a foot long, and an object that could only be described as a fancy looking Nerf gun.

“There’s a person who may be infected,” Minho stepped in, “but the area is inaccessible by any land-based vehicle. We’re going to have to drop in, extract the target and take the chopper back out.”

Minho sounded odd; like she’d just been dropped into a Liam Neeson movie and everyone was using cool sounding words, like objective.

“You’ll be paired with Dr. Bae,” he indicated. “Just make sure she’s hooked up properly and safe. You just need to aid her while she’s going to and from the chopper.” He gave her a nervous smile and she definitely felt something was amiss.

“Why isn’t she going with you? You’re the leader?” Seulgi didn’t mind being paired with Joohyun, quite the contrary, she simply didn’t expect to get partnered up with her. It seemed like the universe was finally on her side for once.

“I-uh,” Minho stuttered, “I’m the leader, so I have to be in front, to lead. _Alone._ ” It was weird. Seulgi had never seen him so fidgety. He’d always been pretty serious, but even in the times that he’d lighten up to laugh, he was always composed and confident. He was lying about this somehow, she just didn’t know about which part.

Minho directed the conversation away from whatever was making him so nervous. “Look, when we get down, just follow me. Don’t do anything that we don’t tell you to do first. And stick together.”

Seulgi nodded. Irene spoke up on the other side of her. 

“Because the situation calls for us to move quickly through a densely filled rainforest, we’re going to use minimal biohazard protection.”

“But you said--”

“I know what I’ve said,” Irene cut her off. “But this is a judgement call that Minho and I both agree on.” The man nodded. Irene pushed Seulgi’s sleeves up past her forearms, as she twisted them left and right. Satisfied, she examined the woman’s face.

“No cuts anywhere, right?” 

Seulgi shook her head.

“Good, now listen, the virus only infects via a portal,” Irene explained, “So as long as you don’t cut yourself and share an infected person’s blood, or let them spit in your face, you should be fine.” The doctor handed Seulgi a full face respirator. “Don’t take this off until I say you can.”

Irene fixed her with a stare, and despite the seriousness of the situation, Seulgi felt an uncomfortable wetness between her thighs.

_Christ._

The helicopter lifted off the ground, giving everyone a few minutes reprieve as they settled into the cacophony.

“When we get there, I’ll descend first,” Minho spoke up, “and then I’ll signal you to follow. Each of us will have radios for communication.”

“Got it,” Seulgi said. Her nervousness was evaporating by the second. This was her element. Being free, in the wild, the sense of adventure just around the river bend or something like that..

Minho gave her an approving nod. “[Operation Lucifer](https://youtu.be/v1rTOCxDhjA?t=218) is about to commence,” he said with a grin.

“Lucifer?” Seulgi asked quizzically. “Like in the devil?”

“As in the angel,” he answered with a self-satisfied smirk.

“As in the _fallen_ angel,” Joohyun corrected irritatedly.

“But still an angel. It’s like what we’re doing: we’re descending from the sky like an angel.”

“I’d rather not be associated with an angel that fell from heaven and went straight to hell,” Joohyun deadpanned. “Not when we’re about to lower out of a helicopter and plummet to the earth.”

“We won’t be plummeting anywhere,” he said, annoyed, and crossing his arms, “not unless Seulgi screws up.”

Said woman immediately put her arms in front of her in a big X. “I won’t screw up.”

“See? There you go.”

The doctor scoffed. “Fine, still doesn’t make the name any less stupid.”

“Really?” Seulgi said, clearly misreading the room. “I kind of like it. Makes me wanna dance or something. _Loverholic robotronic.”_ She hummed.

“Yeah!” Minho clapped.

They both danced a little jig while Irene pointedly ignored them.

A minute later, Mark notified them that they were approaching the target zone. Minho hooked himself up, while Seulgi attached herself and Irene to the clip in points. They were partially outside of the helicopter, ready to cast off.

“You know,” Mark suddenly spoke up, “I think [Highway to Heaven](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFoqGyWhMws) would’ve been a pretty good mission name. ‘Cause when you’re coming back up, you’re like, going to heaven, and with the cable it’s kind of, y’know, like a highway.”

“Ohh!” Minho shot him a thumbs up. “That’s a good one. I’ll save that one for next time.”

Seulgi almost missed Irene's eye roll. 

“Once we’re on the ground, we’ve got six hours to get in and out. Mark will be back at 17:00 hours.” He glanced at his watch and Seulgi tried to do the math in her head.

_[...carry the one, 5:00pm](https://youtu.be/jywYqN3qP0g?t=2005). _

“We won’t have audio while we’re lowering, so just wait for my visual, Mark.” 

“Roger dodger.”

The expedition leader started his descent. Seulgi watched, excitement coursing through her veins. This was her opportunity to show Joohyun that she wasn’t a bumbling idiot. That she was capable, confident, and _cool_. She wouldn’t even have to try in this situation. Minho touched down and looked up at her, giving the go signal. She looked at Mark, who nodded, and then to Joohyun, expecting her to be looking back.

Except she wasn’t.

She wasn’t looking at anything actually. Because her eyes were screwed shut and she had a white knuckle grip on Seulgi’s chest harness. In her excitement, the photographer hadn’t even noticed the bundle of nerves beside her.

“Joohyun, we’re going, okay?” she said gently. The tiniest of nods came back in affirmation.

As smoothly as she could, Seulgi lowered them to the ground. However, the notion was more or less a lost cause. Rappelling involves little jolts here and there, and getting lowered out of a chopper, well, that just doubles the bounce. On the first jolt, the doctor’s eyes flew open and she gasped, “[OMO](https://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/k1ERAB4HBY8vajtePoW?start=265)!” The subsequent bucks became a horrible reenactment of a comedy.

Whatever composure Joohyun had been saving flew out the window. She began muttering incoherently, clutching Seulgi tighter, her legs flapping around like a paper doll that, at one point, kicked Seulgi.

Then Seulgi realized it. _Minho, that asshole._

The photographer, in an attempt to get the situation under control, asked Joohyun to still her legs. The doctor’s solution for that was to wrap her legs around Seulgi’s waist. She then followed it up by wrapping her arms around Seulgi’s torso, essentially making her a human koala. 

_Oh great._ The squishy feeling was back.

 _At least now she’s still,_ Seulgi thought. It allowed her to regain command, and she began lowering them once again. 

Her face now buried into Seulgi’s neck, Joohyun’s breath was sending tingles up and down Seulgi’s spine. The excitement, however, was tempered by the doctor’s demeanor. She was whimpering and crying at the same time, and Seulgi caught words like, “Mommy” and “Please Mister.”

With one hand on the rope, she put her other on the woman’s back and rubbed it gently. 

“Hey,” she cooed. “What’s your favorite food?”

“What?” the woman sniffled.

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Tt--tteokbokki.”

“And your favorite color?”

“Pur--purple,” Joohyun whispered.

“Great, I’ll make you purple tteokbokki when we get back.”

Despite being on the verge of a breakdown, Joohyun managed to eek out a laugh.

“There,” Seulgi said, gently touching down. She held onto the doctor while she regained her sense of balance. Seulgi signaled Mark, who flew off.

“How was it guys?” Minho said, walking over. The barely concealed laughter told Seulgi all she needed to know.

“You set that up, didn’t you?” she said with a shove.

“Whoa, calm down,” he replied, but his chuckles revealed his motives.

“You _knew_ she would be like this. You didn’t need an extra partner. You just didn’t want to deal with it,” Seulgi growled between clenched teeth.

“Okay okay, fine,” he held out his hands. “I knew she was afraid of heights and she’d be a handful on the descent.” Then he added in a low whisper so Dr. Bae couldn’t hear, “But I didn’t hear you grumbling about it earlier.” He smirked.

“You…” was all Seulgi could come back with at the moment.

“Let’s get moving, shall we? We’ve got quite a walk ahead of us.” 

Seulgi whipped around at the sound of the voice. The quivering mess that was Joohyun was gone, Dr. Irene Bae was now in her place, all business and ready to cut bitches.

“You will not mention that to anyone,” she snarled, and despite being the smallest of the group, earned the most enthusiastic nods in agreement. 

They continued their hike in silence, but Seulgi couldn’t quell her bubbling curiosity. She managed to last a full mile before she blurted out her question.

“Why?” Seulgi had to know. “Why would you volunteer to come if you’re so afraid of heights?”

The doctor didn’t hesitate to answer.

“Why wouldn’t I? If I can’t do it, how can I expect anyone else? How could I look Yoona or Seungwan or anyone else in the eye if I put them in danger because I was too scared? I think the question is, ‘why not?’”

Seulgi absorbed the answer for a bit. Joohyun was right, and she herself was guilty of doing the same thing herself. She would never put Joy or Yeri in harm’s way if she had anything to say about it. Her admiration for the doctor grew a little more just then.

“There!” Irene whispered, grabbing Seulgi by the wrist and pulling her into a crouch. She pointed at an area some fifty yards away. Though barely visible through the small clearing of trees, it was unmistakable. It was a building, and it looked horribly out of place against the lush greenery.

“I don’t understand,” Seulgi shook her head, confused as to why they were suddenly secretive. “Aren’t they expecting us?”

“Well, no,” Minho admitted. 

“What?”

“Look, trust me when I say that we’re doing the right thing here. We’re going to grab the target and get the hell out of here.”

“I don’t understand,” Seulgi said, her temper rising. “What are you talking about? And what is going on here? Am I in danger?”

“No more than you have been this whole time,” Irene said quietly, taking a hand into hers. “I promise, I will tell you what is happening later, but I need you to trust me for now.” She looked at Minho. “Trust us.”

Seulgi looked deep into those brown eyes, and she honestly had no idea why she was even hesitating. Joohyun could’ve asked her for the moon and she would’ve tried. For someone who wasn’t into romance, she sure was a sap.

“Yes,” she breathed. “I trust you.”

“Good,” Irene said, still holding onto the hand. “Now we need to be quiet. And get your mask on. You have your camera?”

Seulgi nodded.

“Is it on silent mode?”

Another nod.

“Okay, guess you’re on silent mode too. Follow us. Minho will lead, and I want you to try and take photos of every person and thing possible. Can you do that?”

A final nod.

“Let’s go.” She pulled Seulgi along, quietly moving through the brush. Once they got closer, Seulgi had to cover her mouth to stop the surprise that almost voiced itself.

The building was just part of a compound, surrounded by a chain link fence. But what shocked Seulgi was that within the perimeter were people, wandering around aimlessly, like prisoners. They were dressed in regular clothes, though it looked like they’d been wearing them for weeks now. No one looked younger than thirty, yet no one seemed older than sixty-five. 

“What?” Seulgi stared, unable to process the situation. Dr. Bae placed a hand on her shoulder and pressed another finger to her lips. Seulgi quieted down. The doctor tapped Seulgi’s lens, then pointed to the people. Understanding, Seulgi brought the camera up and started snapping away.

They followed Minho to a door, which he deftly picked and ushered them inside. Without a word, he continued on, Seulgi taking photos every now and then and Joohyun cautiously looking around as she brought up the rear. 

The hallway was long, made entirely of cement, and otherwise pristine. They passed a set of rooms, and in the rooms were cages full of animals. Bats, pigs, birds, and even a person. Seulgi momentarily lost her head and almost shouted for the person. The only thing that stopped her was a still hand on her forearm and a quiet head shake from Irene. Instead, Seulgi had to take a photo. 

Finally, Minho came upon another door that he picked open. Inside, Seulgi couldn’t help it. She gasped. It was filled with vials of all colors. They were labeled with things she didn’t understand, like _**REV-814**_ , ** _BB-22194_** , ** _ICC-31615_**. Just codenames everywhere. Irene and Minho seemed to know what they were looking for; they quickly pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and were rifling through all the shelves.

Seulgi took more photos. 

“Found it!” Minho hissed.

Irene rushed over to him. He held a vial labeled _**RBB-000**_ out to Irene. She quickly pulled out a syringe from her pocket, withdrew a few droplets of liquid and dropped it into another vial of clear liquid she had produced from a pocket.

Seulgi quickly realized this wasn’t any ordinary liquid. The substance was morphing into different colors: blue, green, orange, pink, and purple before finally settling on a blood red. The doctor gave Minho a grim nod.

They quickly gathered the remaining vials with the same label. Irene produced another large syringe, withdrawing the contents of two vials and depositing it into two empty ones. She then wrapped them carefully, and placed it in another plastic bag, surrounded by bubble wrap. Meanwhile, Minho refilled the empty vials with a similar colored liquid, then inserted another fluid into the remaining four vials. They put the glassware back where they had found it, then shared a nod. Minho motioned them to move and they quickly made their way back the way they came.

Seulgi was very confused. Beyond the whole stealing weird vials from a possible vampire’s lair in the middle of Madagascar, Seulgi couldn’t believe they hadn’t run into anyone yet. Judging by the fortitude of the compound, they should’ve at least run into a crony on a smoke break. 

But that wasn’t the case. They escaped the area scot free, no one the wiser. Five minutes after clearing the area, Irene allowed them to take off their masks.

“Ahhh,” Seulgi inhaled, “it feels nice to breathe again.”

“Gross,” Irene said, more to herself, “my face is sticky and my hair is a mess.”

“That was great,” Minho smiled. “Nicely done, both of you.” He glanced down at his watch. “We’ve got about two hours to make the rendezvous point.”

“Minho-ssi, how exactly did we get through that so easily?” Seulgi asked. “My heart was pounding thinking we were going to run into someone.”

“Hah!” he grinned. “We’ve been watching them for the past week. They do their guard changes in the middle of the day. There’s a fifteen minute gap. They outsmarted themselves, thinking we’d come at night, under darkness, so they doubled the coverage, but we--”

He froze. Directly in front of him was a man, his zipper down, relieving himself. He looked just as surprised to see them as they did. Seulgi eyed the gun on his waist and knew this wasn’t good. Before he could react, however, Minho was on him, putting him in a headlock. 

The guard struggled fiercely, but Minho held his ground until the man fainted. When he went limp, the leader dropped him, and the man landed face first into the mud. Minho looked back towards the two women, panting heavily. Seulgi couldn’t help herself.

“That was hot,” she gaped, open mouthed.

“Hmph,” Irene huffed, and stepped over the man, before quickly continuing on. “What would’ve been hotter was not having to resort to such barbaric tactics with better planning.”

They walked in silence for a while, before Minho stopped suddenly. 

“This is it,” he confirmed, looking down at his GPS device. “I’m going to plant the homing beacon.” He pointed to a nearby hill, and Dr. Bae nodded in understanding.

Once they were alone, the silence seemed to magnify. Seulgi wasn’t quite sure what had changed, but Joohyun was even quieter than the normal reticence Seulgi had become accustomed to. It was so out of place, the younger woman had become momentarily distracted from her previous questions, like, ‘What the hell were they doing here?’”

If Seulgi were being quite honest, aside from the doctor’s beauty, she wasn’t someone that the photographer would normally be attracted to. Her type, if it could even be called that, was someone who was more outgoing, someone who laughed at everything. It was usually someone who spent their free time doing spontaneous, adventurous things, not a person who preferred remaining inside. She wanted someone who was brash and freewheeling, someone who didn’t conform to rules.

Joohyun was none of those things. She measured her words carefully, laughed quietly and brooded often. Seulgi had to work to get the smallest reactions out of her. And yet, she was like bait on a hook, the less Seulgi had, the more the chase incited her.

No, Joohyun was definitely not her type. She was all the traditional roles of a damsel in distress: she was frightened by loud noises, she couldn’t handle heights, and she cried emotionally. Seulgi felt an overwhelming need to protect her at these moments. 

But at the same time, Joohyun needed no one. She stood stall on her own: shielding everyone she deemed important, caring above and beyond what was necessary and when she wanted something, mercy on the person who stood in her way.

“He’s going out with Yoona, you know,” the doctor said suddenly.

“Huh?” Seulgi uttered, caught off guard.

“Minho,” she nodded in his direction. “He’s dating Yoona, if you were thinking about it.”

“Oh,” Seulgi scrambled for words, still not understanding what was going on. “I wasn’t. He’s not really my type.”

Irene only nodded, not adding anything else to the conversation.

_Does she think I like Minho?_

Clearly the doctor must’ve thought Seulgi was into their expedition leader. She would have to remedy that. The game had been going on long enough, and if the last few minutes had helped her to realize anything, it was that she wanted Joohyun. All of her.

“You’re probably wondering what’s going on,” Joohyun finally sighed.

“Well, yeah, a bit,” Seulgi said honestly, though a bit would be a gross understatement.

“I have a confession,” Joohyun said solemnly, looking up into Seulgi’s eyes, boring into them like they were the only two people in the world. Because aside from their leader, they kind of were at the moment.

“I have a confession too,” Seulgi breathed out. There was no way around it now.

Their eyes locked, they both said their heart’s secrets at the same time.

“I have feelings for you, Joohyun.”

“I’m a spy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to end on a cliffhanger. Reeeeeally hope nobody needs that oyster joke explained to them. Also, did you spot the blatantly obvious code names? ;D
> 
> Hope you stick with this, things will get clearer after the next chapter. As always, love reading your comments.


	6. Secret Agents, Assemble!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is red.
> 
> Curious about the red flavor, honey  
> The strawberry flavor that melts  
> My favorite is the summer flavor.
> 
> My favorite in the summer is  
> ...you.

“What?!” Seulgi gasped. “You’re a spy?!”

“Well, not like a spy in your traditional sense,” Irene tried to explain, waving her hands in the air.

“I’m sorry,” Seulgi said, reeling, “I’m not very familiar with spy terminology so if you could please explain.”

“I work for the Korean Intelligence Service. We’ve been tracking the _Reveluviridae_ virus and its family for years now.”

“Revel--revulup--re--re-- _what_?”

“ _Reveluviridae?”_ Irene huffed, annoyed. “The virus we’ve been studying for, I don’t know, the past two weeks?”

“Oh, is that its name? I’ve just been saying RV.”

“No wonder _Yerimie_ calls you _Slowgi._ ”

“What does this have to do with being a spy? It doesn’t sound like national security to me.” Seulgi crossed her arms.

“It does if--wait,” Irene paused.

“What is it?”

“I’m trying to figure out if you have the clearance for such sensitive information.”

“You’re worried about that _now?_ You brought me into the middle of a jungle and broke into a creepy compound and stole creepy blood vials. I think I’m in.”

Joohyun mulled the words over, then shrugged nonchalantly.

“Okay,” she agreed, “but you do not repeat what I’m about to tell you, otherwise I will inject you with one of these vials.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“So is stealing creepy blood vials.” She arched an elegant brow and smirked. “And we’re not in Korea so good luck prosecuting me.” She fixed Seulgi with a _try me_ look and the younger woman suffered an inner struggle of being aroused and frightened.

“This _is_ a matter of national security,” the doctor continued on, oblivious to the photographer’s ears turning scarlet. “ _Reveluviridae_ was geographically isolated to the Chinese-Siberian border previously.”

“So what is it doing here?”

“That’s exactly why we’re here. When the virus first popped up on our radar, it was limited to cold environments. Somehow, it managed to become resistant to heat as well.”

“That can’t be good.”

“No, it can’t,” Irene admitted. 

“Still not following how this is a matter of National Security.”

“Because we think the country behind this is North Korea, with assistance from Russia. The first time we encountered it was in Seoul. I was finishing my residency and we treated a North Korean defector. He infected half the ward before I realized what was happening. We isolated everyone after that.”

“Right,” Seulgi said, scratching her head, “but I still don’t get how this is a security issue. They’re just sick.”

“Because,” Irene sighed exasperatedly, clearly wanting Seulgi to understand, “they’re turning it into a bio weapon. The prisoners you saw? I’m recognize some of them as diplomats that have recently gone missing. They’ll infect the people before releasing them to their home countries.”

“So they get people sick?”

“Not just anyone. Think about what happens. The people get home, get treatment, get debriefed, then after a week or two, get invited to meet the country leaders.”

“Ohhh…” Seulgi said, realization slowly dawning on her.

“We know they’ve been working on trying to prolong the incubation period. You understand why that’s bad, right? The longer they’re asymptomatic, the more they can infect people before anyone realizes they should be quarantined.”

“So they’re not just trying to kill people,” Seulgi said in horror.

“--they’re trying to wipe out the world leaders as well.”

“Holy _fuck,_ ” was all Seulgi could manage.

“Holy fuck indeed,” Joohyun nodded. 

"So you're not like a _007_ or a _Jason Bourne_ then?"

"More like a _Jack Ryan,_ but with a lot less beating people up and guns."

Seulgi gave a slow impressed nod. “I have so many more questions though.”

“And I will answer them, but can it be later?” Irene grimaced. “I think I’m starting to get a dehydration headache and my hair is sticking to my neck.” [She lifted her hair away from her nape](https://youtu.be/UPcmdeEfFSE?t=73).

Unable to stop staring at the expanse of skin that was suddenly revealed, Seulgi nodded. “Oh sure.” To be fair, one probably could’ve asked her then if the earth was flat and she would’ve agreed then.

“I have a question for you though,” Joohyun grinned slightly as she switched the topic. “You said you had feelings for me?”

The blood drained out of Seulgi’s face. She had completely forgotten she said that. Maybe now was not the best time to deal with her attraction to the other woman. Not in the middle of a rainforest, not while vials of a bioweapon literally hung between them, not when the woman had just confessed to being an espionage agent. 

In hindsight she'd say something like, "This is really important and I think we should talk about it later when I can really give you my full attention," and not say something stupid that she'd pulled out of her ass.

But alas, Seulgi on the spot was _Slowgi,_ and she couldn’t really think straight in these kinds of pressure situations. Give her an avalanche or an unstoppable train and she’d be your hero, but emotions? In front a pretty woman? Not a chance.

“Did I say that? I don’t think I said that,” she spluttered. “I believe what I said was, ‘I have a feeling about you,’ like I had a feeling you worked for the government.” She crossed her arms with a self-satisfied smile. “Yup, that was all it was.”

“You already thought I was an intelligence officer?” the doctor scoffed, clearly not believing anything Seulgi just said.

Thankfully, their radios crackled with Minho’s voice, saving Seulgi from having to answer. 

“Mark is incoming, meet me up here right away.”

Seulgi immediately started moving, but Joohyun grabbed her arm, prompting her to look back.

“Don’t think we’re done here,” she said in a quiet voice. 

Seulgi gulped and pulled her arm free, giving her best eye smile before figuratively and literally taking off for the hillside.

* * *

Thankfully, Joohyun didn’t press the issue on the way back. Seulgi assumed it was because of the other two people in the helicopter, and for that, she was extremely grateful. She needed the time to process everything that had just happened in the past few hours.

The seemingly docile doctor who wore thongs all the time was suddenly a secret agent working for the top surveillance agency in the country, and that doctor just told her they were on the brink of a global biowar. So many questions were running through her head, like a ticker tape on Wall Street. 

Not to mention, Seulgi had clumsily confessed her crush, and now had to think of a way to make it seem not quite so...pathetic. Because what else was it if you’re gonna to tell someone you like them while the world is burning down around you? Maybe pathetic was too strong a word. Desperate? Joy would surely have the appropriate adjective to describe the mess she was in now. But regardless, there were other priorities that needed to be addressed before she even talked about her feelings towards the doctor.

As soon as they touched down, Minho and Joohyun led Seulgi to a side building, one she realized she’d never been in before. The walls looked different, like they were made of a sturdier and thicker material than the rest of the complex. When she entered after Minho and Dr. Bae, she saw people she didn’t expect.

Sitting in the fifteen by fifteen foot room were people from each of the teams, including her own. Before she could voice her surprise however, someone spoke up.

“What is _she_ doing here?” Johnny said in surprise, clearly indicating Seulgi.

“She’s with us,” Minho said, and that was that. Then he turned to her, “Have a seat.” He turned back to address the room. 

“I have some good news. Today, we managed to take the RBB virus from the Umpah base. Dr. Bae and Dr. Son will have their work cut out for them, but they’ve assured me that they can get the job done.”

Seulgi looked around the room. Dr. Son, Dr. Bae and Johnny all sat on the opposite side of the table. Yeri was to her left, and on the other side of the girl, Mark. Minho was at the head of the table, Kai at the other end. Seulgi was flabbergasted. Why were they all here?

A timid hand slowly raised in the hair, halting Minho’s speech.

“Yes, Seulgi-ssi?” he answered, clearly confused by the interruption.

“I’m sorry, but what exactly is going on here? I only just found out about this so I’m a bit lost.”

The room looked around at each other, obviously debating how much they needed to tell her. Yeri spoke up.

“Sorry Minho-oppa, she’s pretty dense, so you’ll probably want to start at the beginning. Otherwise she’ll be raising her hand all night.”

Seulgi refrained from slapping the gnome since it was going to get her the answers she wanted.

“I’ll do it,” Joohyun said, rising from her seat. “She should understand what’s going on.” Minho sat down.

They weren’t kidding when they said they were going to start from the beginning. Apparently when Joohyun treated the North Korean defector in Seoul, she also isolated the offending virus. Her studies of the virus propelled her to the top of the infectious disease department, and when it resurfaced, as the leading expert, she was called away.

She brought Dr. Son with her, a leading pathologist and drug developer. The virus in northern China was known as _Bagdboilaviridae_ , nicknamed Bad Boy. It caused hemorrhagic fever, liver failure and death, almost immedi among other things. The virus they were tracking in Madagascar, _Reveluviridae_ , was almost an exact replicate, but had a greater incubation period and lower mortality rate.

The Umpah base had been working in secret for years, kidnapping foreign nationals and attempting to decode the genome--

“I’m sorry,” Seugli raised her hand, “but this is way over my head. Could you use simpler words?”

Irene fixed her with a glare and said, “Bad man make germs. Put germs in other people. Make people sick. People get dead.” 

Seulgi gave her a thumbs up. “Got it. Please continue.”

With a huff, the doctor picked up where she left off. “We tracked down their secret laboratory, and found they had frankensteined Reveluv with Bad Boy, essentially making RBB, nicknamed Really Bad Boy. It would be a virus capable of infecting everyone without awareness, and by the time the lethality became apparent, it would be too late.”

“Oh shit!” Seulgi said, and looked around, wondering why no one else seemed as freaked out about it. The room was in various states of disinterest: cleaning nails, playing on their phones, or spacing out. 

“Why isn’t anyone saying anything?” she looked around incredulously.

“We already know? Duh,” Yeri retorted with a sigh. 

“Oh yeah,” Seulgi said sheepishly. She turned back to the doctor. “So we just stole it from them?” Seulgi asked. “Won’t they just make more?”

“Yes and no,” Wendy spoke up. “Minho and Joohyunnie sabotaged all the remaining samples. They’ll take time to figure it out, as well as remanufacture it, if they’re able. In that time, we’re going to work on both a cure and a vaccine. Both of these aren’t simple to make, so we’re going to explore both solutions.”

“Why didn’t we rescue any of those people? We could’ve saved them.”

“We’re not here as a rescue expedition,” Minho answered. “Our cover is that we’re a medical relief mission, that’s how we got our permits, and that’s why we’re with Canada.”

“Huh?”

“Canada doesn’t have any foreign hostilities with North Korea or Russia. If we had done this alone, suspicion would've aroused. That’s also why we couldn’t ask the US for help. Not everyone on base is aware of this secret objective. We protect ourselves by shielding our true objective.”

“It’s also dangerous to rescue them,” Joohyun interrupted. “For everyone involved. If we took them now, the base would know someone interfered. For now, they just know that someone was nearby. It’s also possible they’ve already been infected and we don’t know it. We could possibly put their plan in motion before we get a chance at a cure.”

“I see,” Seulgi said, finally understanding. “You guys are trying to be like the Germ Avengers of the world. Saving the people and no one will even know you did it.”

“Eh, not really,” Yeri said, “Suho’s kind of like Iron Man. Likes to have his face all over television so I’m sure he’ll hype it up once we actually get a cure that doesn’t kill everyone. He likes to hype up Joohyun-unnie too.”

“Wait, Suho’s in on this too?”

“Mm, more or less,” Wendy admitted. “He’s just the money behind it. He knows it’s a security issue, and that we’re possibly saving the world, but that’s about it. He doesn’t get to come to the secret meetings, but he gets a secret agent name.”

“Secret Agent name?”

“His real name is Kim Junmyeon. Suho is his handle.”

It all started to make sense now. “And you’re Irene,” Seulgi pointed to Joohyun, “and you’re Wendy instead of Seungwan,” she said to the blond doctor.

“I’m Seo Youngho,” Johnny spoke up. 

“And I’m Lee Minhyung,” Mark said cheerfully.

They continued around the room. “Kai is Kim Jongin,” Yeri explained, “and I’m Kim Yerim.”

“Huh? Your secret agent name is Yeri? That sounds exactly the same.”

“Oh fuck off, Boss Lady.”

“Language, Yerim-i,” Irene warned.

“Sorry, _Unnie_.”

“Wait,” Seulgi paused, catching on to the trend. “So is Joy a secret agent too?”

“That blabbermouth?” Yeri scoffed. “No way.”

“But she has a secret agent name.”

“Otherwise commonly known as a nickname,” Irene sighed.

“But--”

“ _Slowgi,_ why would she not have a nickname? Her name is Sooyoung for Christ sakes,” Yeri cut in peevishly.

“And?”

“And she can’t swim? If the irony of not being able to swim and your name is ‘swimming,’ how about the fact that her name is _Swimming_?”

“Oh.”

Yeri leaned back satisfied. Then she added, "You should probably pick up a nickname too."

"Why?"

"Seulgi means wisdom."

"Yeah, so?"

"The irony? Of you being named Seulgi…?" Yeri trailed off. "You know what, never mind. I just wasted a good joke."

“Anyway,” Minho broke the awkward silence, “let’s get back--”

“What about you?” Seulgi pointed a finger at the leader. “What’s your secret agent name?”

“Flaming Charisma,” he said with a straight face.

Seulgi almost choked. “Flaming Charisma? How do you get that kind of name?”

A collective chorus of groans filled the room and they immediately shot dirty looks at Seulgi. Unsure of what exactly she had done wrong, she looked back to Minho. 

“Here we go,” Yeri muttered next to her.

The leader puffed up his chest, drew in a deep breath and began spewing a speech or cheer, Seulgi couldn’t tell.

_“BLING BLING IT’S JONGHYUN!_

_OUR POWERFUL TAEMIN!_

_LEADER TOFU ONEW!_

_THE ALMIGHTY KEY!_

_FLAMING CHARISMA MINHO!_

_MY NAME IS MINHO!_

_WE SHINING SHINEE!_

_WE ARE LIVING IN THE SM TOWN!”_

He finished it off with a nod, leaving everyone either speechless or deaf.

Seulgi slowly raised a hand again. Yeri grabbed it and tried to pull it back down. Seulgi looked at her in alarm. 

“What are you doing?”

“No! No more questions from you, just sit there quietly and let us finish.” They struggled for a bit, with Yeri ultimately winning and Seulgi pouting.

Two minutes later they were dismissed, under explicit instructions that no one, aside from the people in the room, was allowed to know what was going on.

“Yeri-ah,” Seulgi said as soon as they got outside. “I can’t believe you kept that secret all this time.”

“Sorry, _Boss Lady,”_ she said apologetically. “Wasn’t really my idea. They planted me with you years ago.”

“Is that what you’ve been doing all this time?”

“Mm,” she nodded, “sending encrypted data back and forth. It’s the perfect cover really. Everyone just thinks we’re sending photos or videos.”

“That’s how we got this job,” Seulgi said mostly to herself. 

“Sort of,” Yeri countered. “They really did like your work. I’ve been showing it to them for a while now. It all just kind of worked out.”

“I wondered how you knew Wendy and Irene. I didn’t recall introducing you and you were calling them unnie as soon as we landed.”

“Yeah well, I counted on your slowness to not really make a big deal out of it,” Yeri laughed.

They walked for a bit after that in a comfortable silence, only broken when Seulgi giggled suddenly.

“Flaming Charisma,” she chuckled. “What the hell.”

“Oh, that’s cause he’s an _OG_ ,” Yeri explained. “He was a prodigy at sixteen. He and four other dudes, all young geniuses like him, took down the 2PM terrorist group.”

“That was _them_?”

Yeri nodded. “And they took out the brother sleeper cell, 2AM. Everyone called them the new Sherlock. Only the agents that came out after them stopped getting cheesy handles.”

“They couldn’t have been that bad.”

“Oh they could, there was a guy that was called Hero Jaejoong before he transferred. Like be a little more subtle, y’know?”

“You mean like Rising God of the East Jaejoong?”

Yeri looked at Seulgi for a second, about to say something, but swallowing it back instead. Finally, she shook her head and laughed, “That’s why I like you, _Slowgi._ ”

* * *

Seulgi had been laying on her cot for hours now. Between the organ-shriveling, finger-curling confession she made and finding out they were on a secret, _secret_ mission, she wasn’t really sure how to process everything. Everytime she thought she’d finally got a handle on things, more questions arose. 

After pondering the paradoxes long enough, she realized the only way to get answers was to ask for them. So she worked up the courage to go ask Joohyun, but then her vision flickered to the blurt out confession, her fingers curled out of embarrassment, and she collapsed back on the cot, doomed to repeat the cycle endlessly.

After a day or two of this horrific cycle, Seulgi finally had a breakthrough. If she couldn’t talk to Joohyun, she could ask Wendy. With the new prospect on the horizon, she quickly showered and brushed her teeth. When she went to get breakfast, she nearly lost a tooth to Joy, who was bounding out of the mess tent.

“Whoa!” Seulgi yelled in surprise, nearly flipping the tray the other girl had in her hands.

“Whoops,” Joy tittered, unfazed by her near accident. She kept going, throwing a parting comment over her shoulder. “Sorry about that, Seulgi.”

“Where are you going?” Seulgi called after her, the taller woman nearly halfway across the compound already.

“Oh this?” Joy eyed the tray she held. “I’m taking it to Dr. Son. She and Dr. Bae have been working around the clock since you guys got back.” And then she flipped her hair with another giggle and skipped away.

_Dr. Bae has been working around the clock as well?_

Seulgi pondered the thought all through breakfast, taking much longer than usual as her food kept slipping through her chopsticks. Completely distracted, she wondered if she should get some food like Joy did and take it over. 

But it was different, because Joy wasn’t infatuated with the other doctor like Seulgi was with Dr. Bae. It was okay to take food over for a friend, but it was different for her. Like taking over food was too obvious, or downright embarrassing. With a disgruntled sigh, she disregarded the realization that she had already embarrassed herself a fair amount earlier.

Irritated, Seulgi stalked back to her room, intending to lay down and do nothing for a bit. That plan went to shit in about fifteen seconds, however. Upon laying on her cot, she realized: A. she wasn’t a brooder; inactivity was actually her worst enemy, and A. Yeri was in the tent as well, singing dual meaning lyrics like, “[Come on come on come on, _Bae-by_ don’t stop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0DqRstCgj4)” or “Hit me _Bae-by_ one more time.”

Now frustrated in more ways than one, Seugli stuffed a sack full of clothing and walked out. 

“Where ya goin’?” Yeri called out.

“Out,” Seulgi replied, unusually short with the other woman, and then she was gone.

She wasn’t quite sure why she was so irritated. It wasn’t an feeling she was accustomed to. Her attitude towards life meant she was relatively easy going, never really getting too high or too low, only occasionally hit by a down period. Being angry, however, just wasn’t her, and Seulgi wasn't entirely sure how to cope with it. She stormed into the laundry tent, messily unpacking her clothes.

So preoccupied with other thoughts was she, she failed to notice both washing machines were already in use. She slammed the lids in exasperation, sighing deeply.

“Something bothering you?” a quiet voice pierced the silence. Seulgi whipped around at the speaker, face turning red when she saw Joohyun sitting on a stool, looking tired and a little off put by the sudden intrusion.

“Ah sorry,” Seulgi mumbled in embarrassment, a hand absentmindedly rubbing her neck. “I didn’t realize someone was already in here.”

“I see.” 

Silence fell again, with only the rumbling of the machines between them.

“So--”

“Are you--”

They both tried to speak at the same time, giggling when they realized they couldn’t hear each other.

“You go first,” Irene conceded.

“Ah okay,” Seulgi nodded. “I’m not sure where to start. I just have so many questions.”

“About the virus? Or my occupation?” 

“Everything,” Seulgi said honestly. “What did you need me for? I didn’t do anything.”

Joohyun transferred clothes over to the dryer, making room for Seulgi’s clothes.

“Yeri will use the pictures you took to ID all the missing people, as well as map out the complex. And,” she laughed, “I’m glad you helped me on the helicopter.”

Seulgi blushed as she remembered how Joohyun held onto her like a lifeline.

“What are you going to do with the virus?” Seulgi asked, switching the topic.

“Seungwannie and I are trying to find a solution. Whatever we can create first. A vaccine, a cure, anything.”

“Don’t those take time?”

“They take an incredibly long amount of time to mass produce, which is why ideally, we find a solution that neutralizes everything here.”

“Joy did tell me that you guys have been working non-stop.”

The doctor sighed. “Yes, we’ve been burning the candle at both ends, and now I’m effectively out of ideas. I needed a breather.”

“So you came to do laundry?”

“I like doing laundry,” Joohyun said defensively.

“I’ve never heard anyone say that,” Seulgi said seriously. “Not even me, and I’m the weirdest one out of all of us.”

“It calms me down,” Joohyun said with an eye roll. “It’s mundane, and lets my mind focus on something incredibly simple. Like how you draw.”

“Like how I draw,” Seulgi hummed. It made sense. It was weird, but it made sense.

“[I like ironing too](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnUFctYHNuA).”

“Oh, that’s interesting,” Seulgi nodded, not believing those words at all. The doctor laughed.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to lie.”

“I’m not...” she mumbled.

“Seulgi-ya,” Joohyun said with a cheeky grin. “I’m a secret agent. We take “How to Spot a Liar 101” on our first day.”

“Do you really?” Seulgi gasped. 

“No,” she said, eyes rolling again, “it was a joke. But you are really terrible at lying.”

“I know, Joy says it’s an ‘endearing trait,’” Seulgi huffed.

“She’s not wrong,” the doctor chuckled.

“So did you really not do secret agent training?” Seulgi said eagerly.

“Ah well, we did have to do some mandatory training,” Joohyun said hesitantly, “but it was nothing like what Minho and Kai had to go through.”

“Irene,” Seulgi said aloud suddenly. “That’s such a cool name. Makes you sound like a femme fatale.” Her shoulders slumped. “I wish I had one.”

Joohyun chuckled behind her hand. “How about _Seulbear_? You’re like a cute little teddy bear.”

Seulgi made a face. “I’m not a child.”

“I like it,” the older woman frowned.

And Seulgi realized then she lost, because she would never turn down a pet name from Joohyun. With a petulant huff, she conceded. “Fine.”

Not wanting to dwell too long on the fact that Joohyun gave her a pet name, Seulgi switched topics at the speed of light.

“I just don’t understand though. Why would you bring me to that top secret lair? I’m a nobody. You could’ve chosen anyone else. Yeri, or Joy, for example.”

“True,” Joohyun nodded. “But you seemed like the right choice. We needed a photographer, someone who could handle being on rope, and someone we," she paused, "I could trust.”

“You trust me?” Seulgi whispered.

“I do,” the doctor nodded, “and I know I asked for your trust before.” She looked timid for once. So unlike the self assured doctor, or the victorious kart rider, or even the frantic mess on the helicopter. Seulgi stayed silent while Joohyun continued.

“I know you were lying to me earlier,” she said softly, eyes holding Seulgi's attention, “about your feelings towards me.”

“I wasn’t—“

Irene cut off Seulgi's backtrack.

“Let me finish, please?”

Seulgi nodded.

“I haven’t forgotten what you said, but I know that this must complicate how you feel about me, whatever that means, and I’m sorry that I kept you in the dark. I just hope you understand that what we’re doing is for the greater good. We can help so many people, Seulgi. I know that what I’ve done probably has you confused, hurt even. But I want you to know, I’ve never lied to you.”

It dawned on the photographer then that what the doctor was asking for wasn’t acceptance. She wasn’t making excuses for her behavior, or justifying what she had done. She was asking for Seulgi’s forgiveness, and it was something that she was more than ready to give.

Seulgi’s anger hadn’t stemmed from Joohyun’s secret, or anything at all to do with the virus. It was from her own inability to process the events around her. Unable to deal with her growing feelings and express them appropriately, they manifested themselves in the form of a petulant adult teenager tantrum.

“Seulgi?” Joohyun murmured, “can you say something?” 

Seulgi shook her head slightly, not realizing that she’d just been sitting there. The other woman waited patiently for an answer. Seulgi could feel those dark eyes on her, never wavering.

“I wish you’d stop doing that,” Seulgi laughed with another head shake. 

“What?” was the response, Jooyhyun perplexed. 

“Staring at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I mean something to you. Like you--”

_Like me. Love me._

Seulgi finished in her head. She couldn’t say it out loud. Joohyun wasn’t waiting for a reply though. She drew in closer to Seulgi, close enough that their breaths started to mingle. Seulgi’s gaze floated down to impossibly red lips.

“I trust you,” Seulgi breathed out softly. “All of you.”

“You are,” Joohyun whispered, but before Seulgi could ask what she was talking about, their lips were pressed together in a soft kiss. 

It wasn’t like Seulgi expected. There were no fireworks, no sparks of electricity, no fire burning up and down. It was a tidal wave, crashing all around her, smothering her senses, engulfing her from the inside out.

She was about to come up for air when there was a loud crash from the front of the tent. 

“Hey is Wendy’s load done yet? It’s been--whoops!” Joy barged in, effectively ending their moment.

The doctor and photographer jumped apart, red-faced and red-handed.

“Did I interrupt something?” Joy said suggestively, with a wiggling eyebrow.

“No,” Joohyun said as a blush creeped up her neck. “I need to get back.” She haphazardly threw her laundry in her basket and left the tent without another word. 

Joy plopped herself onto a chair and crossed her legs. “So, anything you want to tell me?” She grinned cheekily.

“N-no,” Seulgi stammered. She pointedly ignored her friend and continued folding her laundry.

“You sure?” she teased. “You looked like you were gonna have a little bit of coleslaw there.”

“I don’t even know what that means,” Seulgi replied, folding her laundry quickly. 

“You know, a cabbage salad?”

“You’re not making any-- _eep_.” Seulgi froze. 

Hidden in her stack of laundry was something that didn’t belong to her. 

A red thong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the interest of humor and all things awkward, I will give a shoutout (or maybe even find a way to squeeze their name into the story) to the first person to explain the cabbage joke correctly AND also to the person who best explains the oyster joke. OMG I'm so excited honestly.
> 
> I hope you guys haven't been taking this story too seriously. It's a dramedy after all. If you don't know Korean, I recommend looking up the song lyrics, since many of the references actually incorporate song lyrics into their dialogue (this means older chapters too). 
> 
> Also, I'm sorry that Minho gets so much screen time, but his overcompetitive ass is really one of my favs.


	7. Cure-ious Incident of the Salad in the Night Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Sorry, but what's cure-ious?"
> 
> "I didn't order a salad."

_What should I do?_

Seulgi had asked herself that question about a hundred times in the past day, and she still didn’t have a real answer. It should be easy. Just walk right in, say hi, and ask. But she was terrified. Absolutely shaken down to the bone. Everything is only that simple in her head. Actually executing it, well, that was a completely different matter.

But the woman in question was intimidating. Whenever her dark eyes narrowed at Seulgi, the photographer instantly felt afraid, at a loss for words. With her command, she could control the room with a single word.

Deciding that no matter what, it is what must be done, she summoned her courage. Drawing in a deep breath and straightening her shoulders, she braced herself. Walking into the tent with all the confidence she could muster, she spotted the woman she was seeking. She stepped up and the woman looked up at her, brown eyes meeting. Seulgi asked in the braves voice she could muster.

“Do you have anything without vegetables today?”

The lunch lady’s eyes narrowed, and with a sneer she replied, “Kang Seulgi-ssi, vegetables are a staple of a healthy, nutritious meal. There will always be vegetables.”

“I know,” Seulgi pouted, “but they’re just so...[gross](https://twitter.com/i/status/1187545791692496896).”

The older lady glared at her. “You can keep picking out the veggies.”

“Ahjumma,” she whined, “it takes so much time. I’m a busy girl!”

The lunch lady wasn’t swayed. “If you have time to take food to Dr. Bae, you have time to pick out your own vegetables.” She pushed a tray into Seulgi’s chest. The girl flushed pink.

“I--It’s--It’s not like that takes that much time,” Seulgi spluttered.

“Well then, just eat what you want and give the rest to your girlfriend. That’s faster.” She pushed the tray towards Seulgi again.

“She’s not--”

Seulgi stammered out a reply, but the ahjumma was wearing the smallest of smirks, obviously willing to ignore anything Seulgi could say, so the photographer ducked her head to hide her blush and shuffled away.

She quickly scarfed her meal down (well, anything that wasn’t green, leafy and full of life-saving antioxidants, healthy minerals or essential vitamins. The lunch lady could bite her.) She picked up the tray and headed towards her usual destination: the mobile lab. 

Ever since they had procured, ( _AKA stolen_ ), the mysterious bioweapon, Drs. Son and Bae had confined themselves to the mobile BSL-4 lab. Except for the occasional shower and poop, Seulgi, Joy and Yeri hadn’t seen the other two women for the past three days. 

Since they weren’t essential members of the medical team, none of them were allowed entry into the top secret lab. From what Seulgi could see, everyone that went in the tent was always suited up from head to toe in protective gear. The entryway that Seulgi would leave food in was forever littered with coffee cups and half eaten trays.

Following Joy’s lead, Seulgi had been taking a tray of food to the lab for Joohyun, making sure she had least had some sustenance to fuel her research. Sometimes Joohyun would pop out, grabbing a bagel or a muffin from Seulgi’s tray, quickly gush out a thanks, then dash back into the lab, food halfway in her mouth. Seulgi would then gather up the discarded cups and plates and throw them away, wipe off the counter, and leave.

She’d hoped to talk to Joohyun ever since their liplock in the laundry room, but Seulgi hadn’t been able to have any conversations with the doctor that was longer than four sentences. Joohyun would quickly thank her, nibble on the food, then duck back into the restricted area.

Sure enough, this encounter was no different. The petite doctor answered when Seulgi knocked and accepted the food. She thanked the other woman, along with mumbling out a quick hello. Then she was gone. Seulgi sighed, and began picking up the rubbish around the room.

It didn’t surprise her. She knew the feeling. Whenever there was a deadline for a project, she, Yeri and Joy would pull impossibly long shifts, editing, deleting and adjusting their final presentation. So for someone like Joohyun, who had a literal deadline, as in, if she and Wendy didn’t figure something out, people would be dead, it wasn’t surprising to her that they would pull all nighters. 

The problem was that Seulgi couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that Joohyun was avoiding her. She understood, she really did, but was it really so difficult to just stop for a minute and talk? Would the germs grow to the size of the Seoul Needle in the extra minute it would take to talk about their day, about their food, about their _kiss_? 

So Seulgi came to the only logical conclusion: she was being ignored. But what could she do? Only wait, until they cured this virus or Joohyun changed her mind. Which was why Seulgi was the lab once again.

* * *

Yeri eyed her carefully as Seulgi took a seat at breakfast a couple of days later.

“You okay, _Kkangseul? ”_

“Hm?” Seulgi looked up, absentmindedly picking at her food.

“I asked if you were okay. You’ve been looking out of it lately.” Yeri looked concerned, something that was unusual for her. 

“I’m alright,” she lied. “Just tired.”

“You sure look it,” Yeri said, face impassive.

“[Ugh, it’s just, I need time to catch up,](https://youtu.be/rYr8VNTzE0A?t=85)” Seulgi muttered. “It’s this stupid, stupid virus.”

If Yeri thought the outburst was out of place, she played it off well. “How are you and Irene- _unnie_ doing?”

“Ugh. Everything is easier said than done,” Seulgi grumbled, mostly to herself, but Yeri seemed to understand.

“You need to take it easy,” Yeri shrugged. “This isn’t the _Kkangsuel_ I know. You’re usually so laid back.”

“Kang Seulgi-ya!”

The lunch (now breakfast) ahjumma interrupted. “How do you want your eggs?”

“Sunny side up,” Seulgi hollered back. 

Yeri resumed speaking.

“You’ll break whatever you guys have if you keep rushing it.”

“What?” The ahjumma yelled again. “I can’t hear you.”

“Sunny side up!” Seulgi shouted. She made lifting hand motions. “Up! Up!”

Yeri stared at her with round eyes.

“Sorry, what were you saying?” Seulgi asked. “You’re so serious. It’s kind of weird.”

“Nevermind,” Yeri shook her head, rising from the table. “But is it really so bad if you have to wait a bit?”

Seulgi didn’t know the answer. She dropped her head onto her arms, almost slamming her forehead on the table.

“Ugh,”she groaned, “don’t make my mind all scrambled up.”

 _“What?”_ The breakfast ahjumma yelled. “You want scrambled now too?”

* * *

At dinnertime that evening, Seulgi noticed the breakfast and lunch trays she left earlier were untouched. Her previous attempts for the days had been met with no answer. She stood in front of the door, expecting it to go unanswered again. 

She brought her hand up to knock when the door suddenly opened outwards, smashing into her and upending the tray unto her clothes. 

“ _GAH!_ ” Seulgi exclaimed, feeling the ramyun creeping down her sweater. She looked up to see Joohyun sprinting away, hair and lab coat fluttering in her wake.

“Joohyun?” Seulgi mumbled, spitting out the noodles that found their way into her mouth. The doctor turned at the sound of her name.

“Seulgi?” Joohyun whirled around, confused. A split second later, realization washed over her and she cried out, “Seulgi!” 

Joohyun rushed over to the other woman and wrapped her in a noodle-soaked hug.

“We did it!” she shouted, her face split in a huge smile. “We actually did it!” 

Seulgi could barely breathe from Joohyun’s suffocating hold, but she managed to squeak out a reply.

“I brought you dinner,” she said meekly. The doctor only threw her head back in laughter.

“You’re so funny!” she practically screeched. 

Seulgi was getting more and more confused by the second. She had no idea what was going on.

“Joohyun, what are you--mmph!”

Seulgi’s eyes slammed shut on reflex. Soft lips were smashed against hers once again, but nothing like the gentle kiss they had shared a few nights ago. This one was rabid, sloppy and full of energy. 

Then, just as the kiss started to deepen, the lips disappeared. Disoriented, Seulgi opened her eyes.

“Wha?” she stuttered, eyes blinking a few times.

“The antivirus!” Joohyun finally elaborated. “We did it!” 

Then she pressed their lips together in another searing kiss. Joohyun’s tongue traced her lower lip, and Seulgi let out a small whimper as she allowed access. Seulgi was lost. Much like getting caught in a huge wave, she had no idea which way was up, all she knew was that she was drowning.

The complete one-eighty from the doctor had her reeling and right now, and Seulgi was just going with the flow, hoping to eventually catch her breath. It really didn’t help that the woman was a fantastic kisser.

“That’s good,” Seulgi managed to stammer out, once they had parted. She darted her tongue out to trace her own lips, eyes hazy and unfocused. “That was really good.” 

A loud crash interrupted them.

“ _WE DID IIIIITT!_ ” Wendy yelled as she sprinted out the door, almost crashing into Joohyun and Seulgi. The other women separated and gazed at her comically.

“Oh, I see you’ve told Seulgi the good news,” Wendy said sheepishly. 

“Yes, Seungwan,” Joohyun replied, slightly out of breath, “I was on my way to tell Suho and Minho.” 

Seulgi glanced at the doctor. Despite her lips being slightly swollen from their make out session, her composure gave nothing away. 

“Yes!” Wendy said cheerfully, blissfully ignorant. “Let’s hurry up and tell them and then we are gonna celebrate like it’s 1999!”

“Why 1999?” Seulgi asked. 

“I dunno,” Wendy said, scratching her head, “it just sounded good.”

“Let’s get moving, shall we?” Joohyun glared, as she tapped her foot impatiently.

“Yes unnie,” the No-Jam Duo said together.

“Uh, why did you come out so much later than Joohyun?” Seulgi asked while they made their way to Suho’s office.

“She takes longer than I do to get through the disinfection process,” Joohyun answered for them.

Considering the circus Wendy and Seulgi put on while donning their suits, it all made sense. Wendy’s pained smile confirmed it.

“Yeah, I’m usually the last one to come whenever we’re doing something that involves taking clothes off.” Her eyes grew big as she immediately regretted her choice of words.

Joohyun burst into laughter, and a second later, Seulgi as well.[*](https://youtu.be/1ONsFAEaZ64?t=227)

“I meant, I just take a long time to undress!” The laughter grew louder. 

"For scientific purposes!” 

Jooyhyun scream-laughed hysterically, and Seulgi could hardly breathe, her stomach cramping with laughter and her eyes tearing up.

“Look, let’s focus on the important stuff, alright everyone?” Wendy announced loudly, clumsily trying to redirect the conversation. “Like how we’ve managed to find a cure!”

“Alright alright,” Joohyun conceded, though her face was still fresh from laughter.

“What’s all the ruckus about?” Suho asked, peeking his head out of the door. He eyed the food-stained fronts of Seulgi and Irene. “And what happened to your clothes?”

“We need to talk to you,” Joohyun said, ignoring his second question. “Inside.” She nodded her head towards the door.

“Of course, come in.” He stepped aside so they could enter the small office. It wasn’t anything special, just a small room that couldn’t have been longer than seven feet on either end. Suho sat behind a small desk, and gestured for the women to sit. Wendy and Joohyun took seats, Seulgi remained standing by the door.

“Suho-ssi,” Joohyun began, “We’ve got an antiserum.” The friendly Joohyun who had been bent over in laughter a minute ago was gone. The icy Dr. Irene Bae was in her place, eyes blazing.

“You did it?” he gasped.

“Dr. Son mostly,” Irene said.

“Not true, _Unnie,_ ” Wendy protested. She turned to Suho, “Dr. Bae really did it almost all by herself.”

“Look, that’s not important,” Dr. Bae waved off. “We’ve got a cure, and we need to get this into mass production as soon as possible.”

“How are you so sure it works?” Suho asked evenly.

“We’ve tested it on three different patients in the treatment ward. All have recovered in the past twenty-four hours.”

“I can’t believe it,” Suho looked around in disbelief. “You actually did it.”

“You better believe it,” Wendy said confidently. “Took another [Bad Boy down](https://youtu.be/P2YpVE6tGhs?t=81).” She made finger pistols and blew off the imaginary smoke. “What?” she asked, looking at Joohyun, who was resting her chin on her fingers with an impassive face.

“Bad timing, Seungwan-ah,” she said simply.

“So what does this mean for everyone?” Suho redirected them. 

“It means that while the incubation period and contagiousness are still present, nobody will die from it. Even if they get infected, we can treat them. The earlier we initiate, the shorter the downtime.”

“So we still have to proceed with quarantine precautions.” 

Irene nodded agreement.

“What about BSL levels?” he asked. “Can we step down from four to three? Or even two?”

“I wouldn’t do that yet,” Wendy said. “Obviously our cure is in its infancy, so we should be cautious until we get official decisions from the CDC and WHO.”

“I understand.” Suho flipped open his laptop. “I’ll talk to Minho to arrange transportation for the cure to get home to our labs. They can begin mass manufacturing within a couple of days. This should give us enough time to get ahead of any widespread contagion.”

“That sounds good,” Irene nodded. “We have more antivirus being prepped as we speak. It should be ready in another eighteen hours. We’ll send out what we have made and keep the new batch to treat the patients here.”

“Excellent!” Suho clapped his hands with a large smile. “You guys did great.”

The girls made their way towards the exit. Suho pumped two fists in the air and smiled widely.

“Thanks for everything, ladies! It’s time for celebration! Have a good night!”

“We will!” Wendy said cheerfully.

“[Go Ko Ko Bop or something](https://youtu.be/wqzWqYvNHdA?t=127)!”

“Oh, we’re going Ko Ko Bop!” the blonde nodded vigorously. “It’s going down, down, baby.”

“Let’s go, Seungwan-ah,” Joohyun rolled her eyes, pulling the other doctor by the hand.

“He’s right,” Wendy agreed as she shut the door. “We're going to celebrate.”

“Yeah!” Seulgi grinned enthusiastically. “You guys have been working so hard.” 

“Hmm,” Joohyun murmured. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt. I have a bottle of whiskey I’d been saving. We could have a quiet little party.”

“Great!” Wendy clapped. “I’m gonna go ask the cafeteria ahjumma for desserts. What do you want?”

“Ice cream?” Seulgi asked.

“Cake?” Joohyun shrugged.

“Ice cream cake it is then!” Wendy shouted. 

“Oohhh ice cream cake!” Seulgi nodded gleefully. Joohyun looked between the both of them with wide eyes.

“Okay, I’ll go get it!” Wendy hopped around on the balls of her feet.

“Yes! And I’ll go get Joy and Yeri!” Seulgi bounced around with the same energy.

“Meet at your tent?”

“Yes! See you!”

The two women ran off in separate directions leaving a very bewildered Joohyun behind.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Wendy barged into the shared tent of Seulgi, Joy and Yeri. Given the last minute decision to host the get together in their living space, the place was in slight disarray. They had quickly snatched up the dirty clothes, tidied up their cots and pushed the camera gear to the side.

“I got it!” the blonde announced loudly to everyone, holding up a glorious white and red cake.

“There you are!” Joy replied, as she stood up. She had been talking to and hanging all over an uncomfortable Joohyun for the past few minutes. Seulgi had watched them with longing eyes. She agreed to the celebration because she thought she would get the chance to hang out with Joohyun, and instead Joy had pounced on her the moment she walked in with the alcohol.

“What flavor did you get?” Joy asked as she now draped an arm around Wendy’s shoulders.

“[Oh vanilla chocolate honey with a cherry on top](https://youtu.be/glXgSSOKlls?t=65),” she replied merrily. “And some red velvet, cause Joohyunnie likes it.”

“You’re so cute,” Joy grinned, pinching Wendy’s cheek. The blonde put the cake away in the small refrigerator, ducking her head to hide the blush on her face.

“We can have the cake a little later, but first, I’d like to make a toast,” Wendy announced.

They passed around tiny cups and Wendy filled them with the amber liquid.

“To Joohyunnie,” Wendy said, holding her glass high. “For being the absolute bestest boss you could ever have, and being so friggin’ brilliant at everything!” 

“One shot!” she yelled. Then she drank from her glass, upending the cup until all the whiskey was gone. She slammed the glass on the table.

“To Joohyun!” Seulgi grinned and did the same. “One shot!” she smiled before she finished her drink.

Joy shrugged and downed her drink. “One shot,” she said nonchalantly.

“Y’all are crazy bitches,” Yeri said looking around, “I fucking love it.” Then she too finished off her whiskey.

They all looked expectantly towards the toastee. Joohyun was holding her glass gingerly, looking at all of them with a small amount of fear.

“Come on, Joohyunnie,” Wendy urged. “This is for you!”

Joohyun seemed to be on the verge of an internal war, which she apparently lost, because she raised the glass to her lips and drank all until it was empty. Then she put the glass on the table and with a small cough said, “One shot!”

The other four girls giggled in delight.

“Again!” Wendy shouted, and filled their cups again. Joohyun’s eyes widened in alarm, but she didn’t say anything. Wendy raised her glass again.

“To Seulgi!” she said. “Cause you're the best photographer ever, and you’re hella cool for falling out of a helicopter to save my life!”

“I didn’t fall--”

“Shhh,” Joy shushed her, lifting Seulgi’s glass to her mouth. “Just drink.”

Seulgi eyed Joy, and silently finished her shot, but not without pouting at the taller girl first.

Yeri had already finished her whiskey and was on the verge of pouring out more.

“Yah, Kim Yerim!” Wendy scolded. “I’m in charge of the celebratory drinks.” The blonde was clearly buzzed, though they had only started drinking less than ten minutes ago.

“What are we even celebrating?” Joy asked. “Not that I care, mind you, I’m always down for getting drunk, but this seems a little sudden.”

“[I’m not going to tell you](https://youtu.be/jPN3uwGE2s8?t=19)!” Wendy sing-songed drunkenly. She gave Joy a wicked grin.

“Yah,” Joy frowned, and crossed her arms. “I brought you food everyday this past week.”

“Bad timing, Seungwan-ah,” Joohyun said for the second time that night. “And you _can_ tell her,” she added.

“Oh,” Wendy paused. “Well, I guess in that case, I’ll make this toast to you!” She raised her cup towards Joy.

“Me?”

“Yes, you!” Wendy beamed. “Since you brought me food all week, I was able to keep my brain energized enough to help find a cure!”

“You what now?” Joy asked in disbelief.

“We synthesized an antivirus!” Wendy hopped up and down.

“No shit!” Yeri said, rising to her feet as well.

“Yes shit!” Wendy nodded back fervently.

“Well that’s a double for sure then!” Yeri poured more alcohol to each of their cups.

“To you crazy motherfucking geniuses!” Yeri raised her glass.

“I thought this toast was about cutie me!” Joy pouted.

“It’s about all of us!” Wendy shouted. “We did it! We goddamned did it!” Then she emptied her cup down her throat.

Seulgi and Joohyun made eye contact. Seulgi shrugged and followed Wendy. Joohyun gave a small giggle and followed suit. 

“Maybe we should have some of the cake,” Seulgi offered, “I think I’m getting buzzed.”

It was an understatement really, she was significantly buzzed, straddling the line to outright drunk, and within the hour she would surely be in the shit-faced territory. 

Seulgi danced around, her body feeling very light and her head feeling very heavy.

“I think it’s time!” Joy clapped.

“For what?” Wendy asked. Joy rummaged around in one of her duffel bags before pulling out a microphone.

“For this!” she held it out in front of her. “A _noraebang_!”

“Oooohhh!” Joohyun squealed as she spoke up for the first time that evening. Wendy mimicked her excitement. 

Soon enough, Wendy, Joy, Joohyun and Seulgi we’re singing at the top of their lungs. Yeri sat back, amused.

“[Tell me ](https://youtu.be/AdCD6JW4Xrw?t=254)_[WHHHYYYY](https://youtu.be/AdCD6JW4Xrw?t=254),” _ they all sang loudly, even though only Joohyun held the mic. Seulgi danced along joyfully, mimicking the hand motions to the popular song. Seeing Yeri not participating, Seulgi skipped over to the youngest girl, intending to pull her into the festivities.

She underestimated her level of drunkenness though, and slipped, falling to the floor. It didn’t stop her from singing though. 

“Snap out of it, Lion _haaaah--aahh--aaaart,_ ” she sang to Yeri while flat on her back on the ground. The younger girl doubled over in laughter, giggling hysterically at her boss. She quickly whipped out her phone and snapped a selfie of the two, to which Seulgi just raised a peace sign and grinned.

“It’s [Drunk Seulgi](https://youtu.be/ZUpnd-apZsA?t=3)!” Joy laughed, as she threw an arm around Wendy’s shoulders. 

“Drunk Seulgi!” Wendy copied, though from the redness of her cheeks it was pretty clear she was at the same level of sobriety (or lack thereof) as the photographer.

“[Yes](https://youtu.be/AdCD6JW4Xrw?t=306)!” Joohyun shouted, jumping around happily, oblivious to the current situation. The song had just ended and she scored a hundred, meaning she beat out everyone else.

“Give me that,” [Joy snatched the microphone](https://youtu.be/-Ru0JC32dYA?t=77) out of her hand and selected another song. Yeri had finally gotten up and started fighting with the taller girl for the mic.

Seulgi still hadn’t moved. She was quite comfortable where she was, despite the ground being rock solid. The alcohol was pleasantly dulling her system. Not to mention, it’d probably be very difficult to get up right now. Suddenly, Joohyun appeared above her.

“Are you okay? Do you need help getting up?” she asked, her hair gently falling into her face.

Joohyun’s face was starting to blur, almost becoming two Joohyuns, and by Seulgi’s poor grasp of math, that made her doubly beautiful. 

“No, I don't think so,” Seulgi grinned dumbly, “I think I’m okay right here.”

“Oh, I think you might be wrong. Come on, at least lie down on your cot.” Joohyun pulled Seulgi to her feet.

Clumsy from alcohol, lack of blood to her brain, and overall Seulgi-ness, the photographer nearly collapsed into the doctor. Joohyun caught her by the elbows, laughing a bit as their faces suddenly came within inches of each other.

“Whoops,” Seulgi muttered, her lips getting dangerously close to the other woman’s. Joohyun was aware of it as well, if the eyes flitting down to Seulgi’s lips were any indication. They were so close now, and everything about Joohyun seemed magnified.

The way her breath came out in little puffs, the way her lips were slightly parted. Her eyes were wide open, the brown of her irises deepening to a black. A few stray hairs fell into her face, and Seulgi could smell the lavender and vanilla coming off her in gentle waves. 

Her heart beating a mile a minute, she tried to closed the distance between them, her target Joohyun’s red lips. But to her complete and utter disappointment, the other woman pulled back suddenly as a voice interrupted them.

"Really?" Yeri said with disgust. "Right in front of my salad?" 

Seulgi looked around. As far as she could tell, the young woman had only been eating cake, yet she was clearly talking to the couple.

"But you don't have a salad," she pointed out.

"Yeah, we didn't get any salad," Wendy turned around and agreed, swaying a bit on the spot.

"C'mon," Joy pulled Wendy back with an arm around her shoulders, "I'll tell you one day when you're older."

"I'm older than you," Wendy frowned.

"And ten times as adorable," Joy grinned. Wendy stammered out a bashful thanks and turned back to the screen.

Yeri muttered something no one could hear.

“I, uh, I should go,” Joohyun stuttered, drawing Seulgi's attention back. She turned towards the exit, stumbling a bit from the alcohol.

“I’m going back to my tent,” she declared to the other girls, though the words came out a bit slurred. 

By the time everything registered in Seulgi’s intoxicated brain, Joohyun had already disappeared.

“Wait!” Seulgi called, throwing up a useless hand in protest.

“I’m going to make sure she gets back safely!” she said, before quickly following the doctor, not waiting for a response from the other three.

Not caring about what had happened between Seulgi and Joohyun and far more interested in their high scores, the other three girls threw out half-assed goodbyes.

“Good night unnies!” they yelled, not even bothering to turn away from the screen. Wendy was currently hitting a high note and Joy and Yeri were cheering her on..

“Joohyun, wait!” Seulgi called, running after her. The doctor didn’t turn around, still keeping her quick pace. Seulgi finally caught up to her and grabbed her hand and halting her movement.

“Wait, please,” she panted, a hand on her knee. Surprisingly, Joohyun didn’t pull away. 

“What--what was that?” Seulgi said, still gasping for breath.

“Took you long enough.” 

Seulgi could hear the mischief in her voice without even looking up.

“What?” she looked up with wide eyes.

“Come here,” the doctor grinned, pulling Seulgi up by the shoulders into a kiss.

Seulgi couldn’t breathe. Her brain was short circuiting from a lack of oxygen, overload of alcohol and Joohyun’s lips. She didn’t care. If this was the last thing she did in life, she’d die happy. The alcohol had come back and hit her full force again. Seulgi pressed deeper into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Joohyun’s waist, and the other girl draped her arms around her shoulders in return.

Everything felt so alive. Though her brain was fuzzy with alcohol, she could still feel the fingernails igniting sparks at the nape of her neck. Each breath filled her senses with the intoxicating scents of lavender and soap. Joohyun tasted like perfectly aged whiskey, and Seulgi would gladly get drunk off her again. 

Somehow, they ended up in front of Joohyun’s tent. The doctor broke off the kiss and tried to pull Seulgi in by the hand, except the other woman stayed put.

“Don’t you want to come in?” Joohyun asked, her smile coy, but her eyes confused. Seulgi shook her head.

“Nuh uh,” Seulgi declined. “We haven’t even gone on a date yet.”

“Date?” Joohyun’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yes, a date, Joohyunnie,” Seulgi sighed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. This woman was special, and she wasn’t going to treat her like some sort of throwaway Tinder fling. 

She shoved a hand in her pocket, brushing against Joohyun’s left behind underwear, currently burning a hole in Seulgi’s pocket. She’d been trying to find the least awkward time to give it back, but nothing ever seemed right. Tonight obviously wouldn't be the night either. 

“You must be taking lessons from Seungwan,” Joohyun smirked and crossed her arms, distracting Seulgi again.

“Possibly,” Seulgi blushed, internally promising to never tell the doctor that she was right.

“Fine,” Joohyun huffed. “I’ll go on this date with you.”

“Hah!” Seulgi pumped her fist in the air. She kissed Joohyun’s hand. “Goodnight, my fair lady,” she said with a bow.

“Yep,” Joohyun gaped incredulously, “definitely got that from Seungwan.” She turned her hand over and pulled Seulgi up until they were eye to eye. “You should know,” she said with Dr. Irene Bae seriousness, “I don’t do relationships. Or titles.”

This would be a conversation for next time. How Joohyun’s mixed signals kept Seulgi’s interest, but were never enough to get her to jump in head first. How Seulgi was always mildly unsure of what exactly she meant to the other woman. How the doctor could go from warm to ice cold and the photographer never seemed prepared for either. How one day, Seulgi just wanted complete honesty.

But tonight wasn’t going to be about that. Maybe it was the whiskey dulling her senses, or maybe it was just her usual level of optimism, but Seulgi wasn’t bothered by it at all. 

“You confuse me immensely, Bae Joohyun,” she said with an eye smile, her vocabulary alcohol-affected. “But I’ll show you that dating me would be the best thing ever.” She placed one last kiss on Joohyun’s hand and skipped away.

She missed the small smile and shaking head of Joohyun as she left.

* * *

“ _Dr. Son!_ ”

The sunlight was coming in brightly through the tent opening, unfortunately landing on Seulgi’s face.

“ _Dr. Son!_ ”

Someone was shouting. 

“ _Dr. Son!_ ”

Loudly.

With a groan, Seulgi rolled over. Her mouth had the heavy taste of cotton and her head felt sluggish with a hangover.

“ _Dr. Son!_ ”

“ _Jesus Christ_ , someone tell that asshole to shut up!” Yeri was rising too, unable to sleep through the ruckus. Her hair was tousled and she looked to be in a similar condition to the older girl. 

Seulgi looked around. They’d forgotten to put the ice cream cake away and it was now a sad puddle on their table. The whiskey bottle lay discarded next to it, and they had managed to find a bottle of vodka to accompany it. It more or less looked like a hurricane hit. Joy and Wendy were sleeping on a cot next to each other, Wendy still clutching the karaoke microphone as she slept.

“ _Dr. Son!_ ”

“Hey get up,” Yeri muttered grumpily, tossing a pillow at Wendy’s face, but hitting Joy instead.

“What the hell?” the taller woman said groggily.

“Wake Wendy-unnie up,” Yeri grouched. “There’s some loud a-hole outside calling for her.”

“ _Dr. Son!_ ”

“Oh just come in already!” Joy and Yeri yelled at the same time.

A head of black hair ducked down as he entered and when he rose, Seulgi recognized him as Johnny.

“I’m sorry,” he said apologetically. “But there’s been an emergency.”

“What are you talking about?” Seulgi asked.

“It’s of a sensitive nature,” he said cautiously, eyeing Joy.

Wendy picked up on the hint and waved it off. “It’s fine, just tell us.”

“We believe some agents from Umpah base came in late last night and infected nearly the entire camp with _RBB_.”

“What?” all four women exclaimed together. 

“Wait, we’re not infected,” Wendy said, hands flitting around her body.

“No,” Johnny shook his head, “and neither were Mark and I. We were on a delivery run when they came. I think they skipped your tent because it was already disheveled. It looks like someone previously hit it.” He glanced at the cake and discarded cups.

“We’re just hungover, ' _kay_?” Joy said defensively, arms crossed.

“I get the feeling you’re not done with the bad news, are you?” Wendy astutely deduced.

He shook his head again.

“No. They also took Dr. Bae.”

The four women shouted their shock at the same time.

“What?”

“No!”

“Joohyunnie!”

“Where?”

Seulgi asked the last question. There was a pregnant pause.

“Where?” she asked again, her voice a little louder, intensifying her hangover and her resolve.

“I might know where,” he said carefully, “but you’ll have to follow me.”

Without hesitation, all four women stood up and followed the man out of the tent. He led them to the building Seulgi recognized as the “secret” conference room, but instead of stopping there, took them into a small office off to the side. Featuring multiple screens and a small desk, it was clear this was where Johnny did his work. Before he sat down, however, he opened a small refrigerator, pulling out cold Gatorades and handing one to each of them.

They all murmured thanks, with Wendy complimenting him on his ingenuity at managing to get Gatorade in Madagascar.

“Logistics, remember?” he shrugged. “Anyway, let’s get started, they've had a couple of hours headstart already.” He quickly typed on his keyboard, bringing up various maps and pictures.

“Okay, so you know about the Umpah base,” Johnny began. Seulgi, Yeri and Wendy all nodded. “There’s more to it than we originally thought. Mark and I have been using drones and satellites with infrared technology to map the place out. There’s actually a secondary complex underneath it, and it’s huge. I’ve been calling it the Umpah 2.0.”

“I don’t like it,” Yeri frowned.

“Me neither,” Wendy shook her head.

“What?”

“The name,” Yeri clarified.

“What’s wrong with it?” Johnny asked, looking offended.

“It sounds odd,” Seulgi admitted.

“Let’s see you think of something better,” he scoffed.

“What about Umpah Umpah?” Joy offered.

“Ooooh, I like that,” Wendy said excitedly.

“It’s got a good ring to it,” Yeri agreed.

“Umpah [_pah_](https://youtu.be/ZEqQTe2wy54?t=35),” Seulgi tried it out.

“It’s settled then,” Joy finalized. “The Umpah Umpah base.” She turned back to Johnny. “Please continue.”

Flabbergasted, but without any avenue to argue against the women, he went along with them.

“So anyway, underneath is the Umpah Umpah complex, and it is likely where they’re keeping Irene-noona.”

“How do you know that?”

“I used the same technology to run heat signatures on all of the bodies present at the compound. I’m pretty sure this is her.” He brought up an image. It resembled the shape of a human, if they were a colorful gingerbread man.

“I guess that’s her,” Wendy said with her head tilted to the side. “Looks like her S-Line.”

“Oh you should ask Seulgi,” Joy suggested. “She would definitely know all about Irene's S-Line.”

“What?!” Seulgi yelped as her face flushed red. “I don’t know anything about that!” she denied, even as the feeling of Joohyun’s hips in her hands came to mind.

Yeri and Joy laughed loudly at her expense, and Seulgi wondered then if her face could blush darker than red.

Johnny, who hadn’t yet heard of _Seulrene_ , coughed and returned to their topic at hand.

“Mark can drop you off at the same location as last time.”

“Is Minho coming?” Seulgi inquired. “He picked the locks last time to get in.” 

Johnny shook his head.

“All personnel, with the exception of the five of us and Mark, are under quarantine. They’ll use your batch of serums once it’s ready, Dr. Son, but until then, everyone is isolated.”

“How did they infect everyone without raising the alarm?”

“They aerosolized it. By the time anyone realized what they were breathing it was too late.”

“So we have no lock picker,” Seulgi sighed.

“I can pick locks,” Joy said matter-of-factly.

“You have a criminal record?” Seulgi gasped in alarm. “Have I been employing a felon?!”

“Calm down before you give yourself an aneurysm, _unnie_ ,” Joy said. “And no, I’ve never been arrested.”

“But you can pick locks?” Wendy asked.

“What can I say?” Joy shrugged. “I’m handsy.”

“I think you meant ‘handy,’” Wendy corrected.

“Oh no, I mean ‘handsy,’” she winked at the blonde, who blushed. 

Yeri rolled her eyes. 

“Can you stop flirting with everything that has two legs and genitalia?”

“You’re just jealous, you [troll](https://smglobalshop.com/products/pre-order-red-velvet-loves-good-luck-trolls-acrylic-charm?variant=32739847372940).” Joy stuck her tongue out.

“Guys,” Seulgi spoke loudly over them, “we have to hurry if we’re going to help Joohyun.”

“Right,” Wendy said, standing up and straightening her clothes. “Let’s go.”

“Mark’s already at the helicopter pad,” Johnny added. “I’ll be your mission control from here.”

“Thanks,” she said, as they exited. 

“By the way,” Joy spoke as they walked towards the chopper, “What exactly is going on here?”

Wendy, Seulgi and Yeri all shared a look.

“Not it,” Yeri muttered, walking away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a little late. The following updates will most likely be late as well. 
> 
> There's a lot of heavy double meanings, plays on words and idioms in this fic, so I apologize if English isn't your first language and a lot of this is flying over your head. Oh, and also a lot of sarcasm. 
> 
> Keep an eye out in the future chapters, I'll be sticking the usernames of my fav comments in them.
> 
> On a serious note, if you haven't been limiting your presence regarding COVID-19 in earnest, please do. I cannot stress how important it is right now to limit your contact with others. My patients haven't been really doing all they should be, despite my pleas, and in a couple of weeks, I expect our healthcare system to be overwhelmed. Make good choices please.


	8. This Comeback's Concept is Secret Agent #saveherBae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seulgi and co. start the #saveherBae mission, but what follows is certainly not what anyone was expecting. Not that Seulgi knew what to expect, it was her first secret agent mission, after all.

Seulgi closed her eyes and sighed, leaning her head back to collide with the headrest. This was so unlike the last time she rode in the helicopter, where she was excited and ready for adventure. Now she was completely nervous, and definitely scared, as they made their way towards the secret base. 

But she had to go. She had to do it. There was no one left. No one left to save the doctor who had created a serum that would eventually save the world.

Grateful wouldn’t even begin to describe what Seulgi felt towards the other women in the helicopter with her. There had been no question, no hesitation, everyone simply got onto the chopper.

Wendy looked nervous, as expected, but she also looked very determined, with a steely gaze. Yeri seemed bored, but then again, nothing ever really threw the youngest off her game. 

Joy was taking this surprisingly well. She didn’t seem at all put off by the sudden news that there was a secret terrorist base and they were making a beeline straight for it.

“Why are you here?” Joy asked Seulgi, as if she herself weren’t putting her life on the line for someone she met only weeks ago.

“What do you mean?” Seulgi deflected dumbly, delaying the inevitable answer she’d have to give.

“Why are you here?” she repeated. “I know why they’re here,” she motioned to Yeri and Wendy. “They should be here. It’s their job. But you don’t have to be here. You’re just a photographer.” Her eyes burned with such intensity that Seulgi knew she could see straight through her.

Rather than answer, the photographer deflected again. 

“What about you? What are you doing here? You’re the same as me.”

Joy didn’t flinch. 

“I’m here because of you.”

“What?”

“I’m here because of you,” she said again. She looked at the ceiling with a quirked eyebrow. "I know it's really loud cause we're in a helicopter, but you’re really thick today, _Slowgi_. I’m having to repeat myself a lot more than normal.”

“Because I don’t understand,” Seulgi sighed. “Why would you be here because of me?”

“As soon as you asked ‘where’ I already knew I was going to follow,” Joy explained. “You’re my best friend. How could I not come with you?”

Seulgi’s chest swelled. Joy was here, not because she was obligated, but solely because she was her friend, Seulgi’s _best_ friend, and although she had to constantly remind Seulgi, she had her back. 

“Thanks,” Seulgi swallowed thickly.

“I came here for Wendy and Yeri too,” Joy shrugged, essentially ending the softness Seulgi was feeling towards the girl.

“Yah, Park Sooyoung!”

Seulgi shoved the girl, and making it a rare occasion she used Joy’s real name. “I don’t care why you’re here. Thanks.” She grinned softly. Joy returned the smile.

“I gotta say though,” the younger woman said as she folded her arms, “for someone that didn’t even want to buy her girlfriend flowers on Valentine’s Day, you sure do pull out all the stops for Dr. Bae.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Seulgi denied.

“Oh sure you do,” Joy countered, eyes flashing mischievously, and a twinge of panic settled in Seulgi's stomach. “You got on a helicopter in a thunderstorm to rescue her best friend. Then you followed her to a secret bioweapon base to help save the world. You brought her food everyday for a week. And not to mention,” Joy said cheekily, “that you’re currently on a helicopter _again_ to rescue her from international terrorists.”

Seulgi dropped her gaze, refusing to meet Joy’s all-knowing smirk.

“You see, Kang Seulgi,” she continued, “though you’ve been denying it for years, you, my dear, are an absolute romantic sap. _That’s_ why you’re here.” Joy finished it off with a bop to Seulgi's button nose.

Seulgi couldn’t offer up any sort of defense, choosing instead to remain silent. 

Joy was right. She was a sappy mess, and only when it came to a certain doctor.

Because meeting Dr. Irene Bae was both the best and worst thing that had ever happened to Kang Seulgi. 

* * *

They exited the helicopter much smoother than the two previous times Seulgi had descended. Once on the ground, she asked Wendy an important question.

“Aren’t we going to wear masks?” 

“No,” the doctor shook her head. “We can barely breathe with those things on, and I have a feeling we’ll need to move quickly. Plus, we’ve got an antidote." She fished something out of her coat.

“Here,” Wendy handed each of them small earpieces. “They’re tiny radios we can use to contact each other and Johnny. I’m not sure how well they’ll work once we get underground though.”

“Best keep our fingers crossed then,” Joy said, moving along.

* * *

When they came upon the familiar compound, Yeri signaled them to crouch and stay silent. She peered through the foliage, looking left and right. Finally satisfied, she signaled Wendy and the others to join her at her vantage point. 

“It looks clear,” Yeri surmised, “no one has passed by in the past ten minutes. I don’t even see a crony for guard patrol.”

“You think maybe they’re moving bases?” Joy asked from behind the two.

“I think it’s more likely they’re consolidating their forces,” Yeri frowned. “That attack on our people was a power move; they’re saying that they’re ready to make a statement. They wouldn’t risk putting themselves out in the open like that if they weren’t sure they had a winning hand.”

“So you think they pulled all the guards back?” Wendy asked.

“Mmm,” Yeri nodded. “Either moved them inside or to another location. But that’s better for us, should make it easier to get Joohyun-unnie out.”

“I also brought something along that should make it easier for us to get her out as well,” Wendy said. She reached behind her back and produced a handgun. Everyone immediately recoiled.

“What is that?!” Yeri exclaimed in alarm.

“It’s a gun,” Wendy said timidly, pinching the pistol between two fingers so that it hung between them like a smelly sock.

“I know what it is,” Yeri hissed between clenched teeth, “but what are you doing with it?”

“I thought we might need it,” Wendy shrugged. “Since we’re going on a secret agent mission.”

“First of all,” Yeri growled, “this is not a secret agent mission. All of our superiors are incapacitated, so we’re techinically AWOL.” 

Wendy’s mouth formed an O.

“Second, your hand is still broken.” Yeri knocked on the plaster surrounding Wendy’s wrist.

“And third, where did you even get that?!”

“It was in one of the compartments in the helicopter,” the doctor replied casually, as if finding an armed weapon was a normal day's occurrence for her. “I took it while we were putting on our secret agent gear.”

“It’s called a harness,” the youngest deadpanned.

“Most importantly,” Yeri continued, “We’re not those kinds of agents!”

“What do you mean?” Seulgi asked, genuinely confused.

“I sit behind a desk all day and she talks to sick people!” Yeri sighed in exasperation while wildly motioning at herself and Wendy.

“Oh you’re underestimating us,” Wendy clicked disapprovingly.

“I am not! You know we both suck at shooting. The only one of us worth a damn is Joohyun-unnie.” She crossed her arms.

“Joohyun?”

“She wins the [annual shooting competition at the _KIS_](https://youtu.be/j4CqoRV6qmM?t=44),” Wendy beamed proudly.

"Yeah, remember that time she got our whole department chicken?" Yeri grinned.

“Oh yeah," Wendy nodded vigorously. "She probably could’ve been a sniper if she wasn’t so good at killing germs and didn’t like getting dirty.”

“And wasn’t so good looking,” Joy added casually, eyes fixed on Seulgi.

“Oh, that too,” Wendy agreed.

“Yeah, but she’s not here,” Yeri said, “and I’m not taking it. And you’re _definitely_ not taking it.” She shot a look at Wendy.

“Oh I don’t want it,” Joy said disdainfully, looking at the gun dangling as if it were a rotten fish.

“I don’t want it either,” Seulgi said.

“Fine,” Yeri sighed, “I’ll hold onto it for now.”

* * *

They approached the familiar compound, eerily empty this time. There were no people wandering the yard, no strange men patrolling the grounds. The doors, however, were still locked.

Joy quickly strode forward and fiddled with the handle until it opened.

“Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?”

They all whipped around at the sound of the voice. It belonged to a slim brown-haired man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties and seemed rather confused as he strode forward.

“Who are you?” he asked, holding a clipboard out in front of him. It was clearly a list of names. Picking up on that, Joy pounced into action.

“We’re visitors,” she said in a haughty voice, doing her best rich ahjumma impression. The man didn’t flinch.

“I understand, ma’am, but what are your names or your affiliated group?” He held the clipboard out expectantly.

“Uh--”

“Johnny’s Angels?” their invisible teammate supplied in their earpieces.

“Red Velvet!” Seulgi yelled, thinking of Joohyun’s favorite cake. She knew she said the wrong thing, when she felt four sets of eyes on her, three of them very, very angry.

“What the hell, _Slowgi?_ ” Yeri hissed, but by the grace of all things Irene, the guard seemed to buy it.

“[ _Redubelbet_](https://youtu.be/TkVpaKW2RWM?t=7),” he muttered, scanning the lists, clearly inexperienced with English. Wendy saw her opportunity and seized it.

“Red Velvet,” she said in flawless English, and eyeing the guard’s name tag added, “Mr. Leeteuk.”

“What was that again?”

“Red Velvet,” she repeated.

“Could you spell it?” 

She rattled off the letters in rapid succession.

“A little slower, please.” 

She slowed her pace by a half second. 

“One more time?”

“Ugh, right there,” Wendy pointed to some words in English that were very clearly _not_ Red Velvet. Seulgi’s knowledge was fairly limited, but she was pretty sure the words said Super Junior.

“Oh okay,” he nodded. “Could I please have your accompanying password?”

“Password?” the blonde’s eyes grew wide. 

“Hold on,” Johnny’s voice said in their ears. “I have the list of passwords we’ve been gathering over the week...” 

Seulgi could hear him typing rapidly. Meanwhile, Wendy tried to buy time.

“Lovely weather, isn’t it?” she said with a fake smile.

Joy and Yeri stiffened in alarm at the interaction.

“Got it,” Johnny said after three very tense seconds. “Try Russian Roulette.”

“Seriously?” Joy couldn’t help her scoff.

“Russian Roulette,” Wendy said in another round of perfect English.

“What?” the guard asked again.

Wendy blew out an angry breath through her nose.

“Russhiahn Rurettu,” she said this time in _Engrish_.

“Could you spell this one too?” he asked, scanning his lists once more.

She spat out the letters quickly.

“Slowly please.”

“Oh for goodness sake,” Yeri sighed exasperatedly. “Enough of this.” She strode up behind the guard, who was still looking at his clipboard, and karate chopped him on the back of the neck. He quickly collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

“Kim Yerim!” Wendy gasped. “I thought you said we weren’t those kinds of secret agents?” 

“What can I say?” she shrugged. “This got me feeling kind of psycho.”

“Right,” Joy grimaced with an uneasy smile. “[Psycho](https://youtu.be/uR8Mrt1IpXg?t=15).”

They continued through the open door.

“Okay Johnny, we’re in,” Yeri said quietly.

“I’m here, Yeri,” Johnny’s voice crackled in Seulgi’s ear. “Irene-noona is on the lower level. Go down the corridor and take the second left.” The girls followed his directions, down two eerie concrete passages.

“Take a left, then left, then right.” He led them down using a dizzying set of instructions, and Seulgi barely followed along.

“Stop,” Johnny eventually said. “This is it, her heat signature is just beyond that door. But there's a problem guys.”

“What?”

“She’s not alone.”

“How many?”

“I can’t tell for sure, but it looks like there are at least one or two other people in the room with her.” 

“What should we do?” Wendy looked around.

“Easy,” Joy said confidently. “We break in, beat ‘em up, and rescue Dr. Bae.”

“With what?” Yeri asked. “Pretty sure I’m the only one who can beat anyone up here.”

“Use the gun?” Joy shrugged.

“Who?”

“I don’t want it,” Seulgi said, with a sense of deja vu.

“I don’t want it either,” Yeri added. 

“I can’t have it,” Wendy pouted.

“Rock-paper-scissors?” Joy suggested. The other three shrugged.

“ _Kaayee--baayeee--[BO](https://youtu.be/W_7GM5AJp6s?t=454)!” _they shouted, throwing out their choice. She could've sworn she won, but somehow Seulgi wound up holding the pistol.

“Okay, so this is the safety,” Yeri showed her. “Just make sure you keep that thing facing away from us.”

“Point it at the bad guy,” Wendy nodded firmly.

“The bad guy, right,” [Seulgi cocked the pistol](https://youtu.be/2hEuTXD5yZM?t=134) and aimed it off in the distance.

Joy kneeled and had the door open in under a minute. They pushed it ajar slowly, praying that it didn’t squeak. 

The room before them was large, yet dimly lit. About the size of a basketball gym, it had sparse lighting and large boxes lining its walls. The girls shuffled behind the boxes and closed the door silently.

In the middle of the towers of boxes, Joohyun sat on a worn out chair, limbs tied down by rope. Seulgi couldn’t help thinking that everything about the room screamed “average kidnap thriller movie set.” The doctor had a single light over her head, while two figures circled around her. With their backs to the intruders, their faces were concealed.

“Let’s shoot them now,” Joy whispered. “They we can get the fuck out of here.”

Seulgi looked at Joy worredly. She didn’t want to shoot anyone. She didn’t want to kill anyone. She just wanted to get Joohyun back. Wendy sensed her discomfort and placed a hand on her arm.

“Seulgi, can you do this?” she asked earnesty.

The photographer did some deep soul searching on the spot. While yes, she abhorred hurting anyone, she had already proven that she would do almost anything for the doctor. But all previous instances risked her own safety. She was always willing to give up her life, but not necessarily sacrifice someone else's.

“What if I just maim them?” she postulated.

Yeri shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Just take them out of commission. Remember, if they get back up though, they’ll kill us too.”

Seulgi considered the information. 

“I’ll go first then,” she decided. “You guys stay hidden until it’s all clear.”

“Go get your girl,” Wendy said encouragingly, two thumbs up. The three women stepped back to conceal themselves better.

Seulgi pulled the gun from the holster, holding it like she’d seen in TV shows. She crept out from behind the boxes slowly.

Her hands were clammy; this was unlike anything she’d ever done before. The prospect of having to use a lethal weapon was causing her heart to jackhammer in her chest.

The dim lighting concealed her presence almost entirely, and Seulgi continued to take quiet steps towards the lit figures. 

“Hey Seulgi,” Yeri’s voice crackled in her ear.

“Yea?”

“I prolly shoulda asked you this earlier, but you ever used a gun before?”

“Uh, nope,” she said in a soft whisper.

Seulgi thought she heard a smacking sound, and imagined it was Yeri slapping a hand to her forehead in a facepalm.

“Oh dear,” Wendy mumbled.

“I[’ve done archery before](https://youtu.be/aUDmAb_STwo?t=101),” Seulgi added as a consolation prize.

“And you were good at it?” Yeri sounded hopeful.

“Uh, [nope](https://youtu.be/Ql2hZilFcho?t=107).”

Another smack.

“Oh well, _hwaiting!”_

The youngest gave a parting cheer. 

Seulgi shrugged and moved along. Once she got as close as she could without drawing attention to herself, she drew the gun up. Her palms were sweaty and her arms were quivering. Taking aim at one of the kidnappers legs, she pulled the trigger.

But it didn’t fire. She squeezed again. Nothing. 

“The safety!” Yeri hissed.

_Oh right, the safety!_

Seulgi fiddled with the side of the pistol, trying to flick the switch that would allow the gun to work. With one quick snap, she did it, and also sent the gun tumbling out of her clammy hands. 

“Oh, my gun!” she gasped.

It clambered to the floor, accidentally discharging upon impact with a loud bang. Joohyun screamed, flinching from the loud noise. The two kidnappers initially ducked, then whipped around at the source of the ruckus.

When the smoke had cleared and her ears had stopped ringing, Seulgi looked up to find two incredibly beautiful women staring down at her. They weren’t quite as beautiful as Joohyun, but that could’ve just been Seulgi’s personal bias.

“And what do we have here?” one of the women purred. Her face reminded Seulgi of a fox, devious and playful, and she immediately set the photographer on edge. 

“Looks like another bumbling _KIS_ agent,” the other woman shrugged. Unlike the first woman, this girl had a much friendlier face, a much more traditional beauty along the lines of the doctor.

“I’m not an agent,” Seulgi said warily.

“Oh?” the fox-face said casually, no hint of surprise in her features. “Then who are you?”

“Seulgi?!” Joohyun gasped from her bound position.

“Oh, now this is interesting,” the woman purred kitten-like. “You know Dr. Bae do you, Seulgi-ssi?”

Seulgi noted that the foxy woman was a very quick study, not missing a beat, picking up on her name in an instant. The photographer swallowed and nodded slowly.

“Nice to meet you,” she drawled, clearly not meaning any of it. “I’m Jennie, and this is Jisoo.” She pointed to the other woman.

“Should we be telling her our names?” the woman named Jisoo questioned. The fox-faced woman named Jennie gave a lazy shrug.

“It’s not like she’s going anywhere.”

“Well, then I’m going to tell her my real name.”

“That is your real name,” the fox-faced Jennie said with a quirked eyebrow. 

“No, my real name is Jisoo [TurtleRabbit](https://youtu.be/5yhiHTYQjkc?t=17) Kim.”

Jennie chuckled at first, earning a death stare from Jisoo.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Uh cause that’s not your name.”

“Yes it is,” Jisoo huffed. “TurtleRabbit is my middle name. Or you can just call me Turtle for short.”

“You can’t just give yourself that kind of middle name,” Jennie sighed.

“Yes I can!” Jisoo argued back, prompting a round of bickering between the two.

While they were distracted, Seulgi quickly looked to Joohyun. The woman’s hair was matted, and she was sporting a bloody lip. One of her eyes had a fresh bruise around it.

“Are you alright?” she mouthed silently.

The doctor gave a tired smile and nodded.

“I’ll do you all night,” Joohyun mouthed back. Or she could’ve been mouthing, “I’m doing alright.” Seulgi really, really had to get better at lip reading.

“These two ladies are North Korean agents!” Johnny announced over their earpieces. “They’re part of the YG family.”

“Family?” the other three women echoed in her ear.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “They follow their leader a bit more _obsessively_ than other groups. They refer to their group as a family.”

“Sounds like a cult,” Joy surmised.

“Correct,” Johnny agreed. “These ladies are from the Blackpink subsidiary.”

“Blackpink?” 

The two women turned to Seulgi, and it was then she realized she said the same out loud.

“Ah, so you know who we are,” Jennie smirked.

“You’re from the YG Family,” Seulgi growled. “What do you want with Dr. Bae?”

Bringing their attention back to the doctor, Jennie sauntered over.

“Hmm,” Jennie purred, dragging a finger along Joohyun’s chin, “I was just talking to this gorgeous woman here.” 

Seulgi seethed, hands balled up into fists. She needed an opening.

“Let me ask you something, Irene.” The doctor gave no response as the other woman grabbed her chin, directing her until they were eye to eye. “[Do you know who is more beautiful than you](https://twitter.com/luvrenebaebae/status/1213652405339840513?s=20)?” 

Joohyun only glared back wordlessly. Jennie wasn’t deterred.

“Do you?” she asked again, shaking the doctor’s defiant chin. After a few tense seconds, Joohyun gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

“Hah,” Jennie laughed. “Correct. No one is more beautiful than you.”

“Hey!”

Jisoo and Seulgi shouted at the same time.

“You used that line on me before!” Jisoo pouted.

“I’m supposed to say that to her!” Seulgi also pouted.

“That’s my level of [greasiness](https://youtu.be/tD72WwfUKk8?t=66) there,” Wendy said through the earpiece. "Also, Yeri is throwing up."

“We’ve been watching you for a long time, Dr. Bae,” Jennie continued, ignoring the whining of the other two women. “We know you’ve been researching RBB. And apparently cured it.”

“What do you want?” Joohyun growled.

“Easy,” Jennie said smugly. “You’re going to make us an unbeatable virus. Like your unbeatable face.”

“Hey!” Seulgi protested again. “Stop stealing my lines!”

“Are you still here?” Jennie said with a bored eye roll. “Get rid of her, Jisoo.”

“Me?” The other girl looked surprised. “How?”

“Hit her,” she said simply.

“Oh!” Jisoo said excitedly. “With that _Ddu-Du Ddu-Du_ , right?”

“Yes,” Jennie sighed. “Hurry up and kill this love--” she coughed, “that lovely woman there.”

The cat-eyed woman turned to Seulgi and added, “I’m sorry, you really are quite pretty, just not my type, so you’ll have to go.”

Jisoo raised a gun towards Seulgi, frowning apologetically. 

“I’m also sorry, I don’t really like to shoot anyone honestly. And you’re kinda cute.”

Both Jennie and Joohyun frowned deeply at her last words. Jisoo gave a heavy sigh.

“But Jennie says so, so take a deep breath, as if it’s your last.” The gun cocked.

“Come on, Jisoo,” Jennie said, tapping her foot, “I’m getting impatient. Time is ticking.”

“Ahh, please,” Seulgi pleaded, hands up in surrender, “[won’t you set me free?](https://youtu.be/Amq-qlqbjYA?t=125) I haven’t done anything.”

Jisoo hesitated, her hand adjusting and regripping the gun.

“Stop thinking,” Jennie said irritatedly, walking over, “what’s so hard about this? Do you need me to do it?” She redirected her pistol towards Seulgi and the photographer saw her life flash before her eyes.

It started rewinding backwards, every kiss with Irene, getting on a plane here, her first out of country shoot. Before she got any further, a loud voice interrupted them.

“[Shine on me! Let it shine on me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad0dQJb_2aw)!” 

All four heads turned towards the intrusion.

Wendy was running out into the open, hands to the heavens, singing her lungs out. 

“In my embrace, let it shine!”

She was killing it too, Seulgi didn’t fail to notice.

“What the hell is she doing?” Irene muttered.

As if they could hear her, the maknaes stammered out apologies.

“Sorry!” Yeri said, “She just jumped up and was all, ‘[Power up!](https://youtu.be/jywYqN3qP0g?t=2355) I got this!’ We couldn't stop her!”

“Shine on me! Let it shine on me!”

Wendy was still slaying the notes.

“She’s gonna get herself killed,” Joy whimpered.

“What are you guys doing, _Slowgi?”_ Yeri hissed. “She’s doing this as a distraction!”

And it was working. The other agents stood stock still, transfixed by Wendy’s high note and sudden bizarre appearance (her stance looked a little odd as well, but whatever). Seulgi quickly ran to Irene and began cutting the ropes restricting her hands. 

Jennie and Jisoo were slowly coming to.

“Shut her up before Mr. E hears her!” Jennie ordered.

_Mr. E?_

Seulgi didn’t have time to think too hard about it. She was furiously sawing at the thick hemp around the doctor’s wrists.

As soon as Joohyun was free of her bonds, she quickly strode over and retrieved the pistol Seulgi had dropped earlier. 

Jennie and Jisoo were confronting Wendy now, though to her credit, the blonde wasn’t wavering. Her gaze was set in stony determination as she continued to distract them. Seulgi heard a faint “Booyah!” 

Joohyun and Seulgi started running towards her. 

The next moments happened so quickly. The other agents heard their footsteps, and with lightning quickness, Jisoo had shielded herself behind Wendy, an arm around her neck and a pistol at her temple.

Wendy’s small gasp of surprise nearly echoed as everything fell silent in that warehouse.

Jennie tried to turn her gun to Joohyun’s chest, but the doctor had already beat the other agent at her game, as her pistol was cocked and loaded towards the fox-faced woman.

“Let her go,” Joohyun said. Her voice wasn’t a growl or a hiss, it wasn’t even angry. It was ice. Ice so cold it could burn you. So cold it carried the promise that if you didn’t do as it commanded, it was your demise.

“I don’t think so,” Jennie sneered. “You look a little out-gunned.” Behind her, Wendy whimpered, struggling slightly in Jisoo’s hold.

“Trust me when I say that I can put you in the ground before you even think about squeezing the trigger,” Joohyun’s eyes flashed dangerously.

“Hmm, you’re probably right,” Jennie smirked. She instead directed her pistol away from Joohyun to Seulgi’s chest.

“Oh,” was all Seulgi could utter when she saw it.

“So, you could shoot me,” Jennie drawled, “but I’m pretty sure my finger will twitch on the way down and shoot your pretty little plaything.” 

Joohyun frowned deeper. It would’ve been possibly the most adorable angry pout in the world if Seulgi didn’t currently have the barrel of a gun pointed at her.

“Now you’re going to let us go,” Jennie grinned, cat eyes shining. “Stay here like good little kitties.” She began walking backwards. Jisoo copied her, dragging a reluctant Wendy with her.

“I’m sorry, Seungwan-ah,” Joohyun whispered. Her gun stayed trained on Jisoo, hoping to get an opening. The two women disappeared behind a side door.

“How you like that!” Jennie yelled before the door shut completely. It echoed down the corridor as they disappeared, "Da-da-da-dat..."

“Fuck!” Joohyun spat, anger emanating off her in waves. Seulgi had never seen the doctor so upset. Yeri and Joy appeared at their side, coming out of hiding.

“So what’s the plan?” Yeri asked.

“We’re gonna go after them right?”Joy asked impatiently. “We’ve gotta get Wendy back.”

“Of course we’re going to go after them,” Joohyun answered, eyebrows furrowed. “But we need a plan.”

Seulgi stood by silently. Reminiscent of when the doctor was hard at work in the hospital, she could see the cogs turning in Joohyun’s head, and wouldn’t dare interrupt her. Suddenly, Joohyun to Yeri. 

“Yeri-ah, you’re in contact with Johnny?”

“Yeah, we’ve all got tiny in ear communicators.”

“Someone give me an earpiece.”

Joy quickly offered hers up. “It’s not like I was doing anything anyway,” she shrugged. 

“Johnny,” Jooyhyun spoke after putting the device in her ear.

“Noona!” he gasped excitedly.

“Johnny, please tell me you’ve mapped the ventilation system.”

“Of course.”

“Perfect. Where’s the nearest access point?”

“Well there’s one in the southwest corner of the room you’re in.”

They looked up. The ceiling was twenty feet tall. Joohyun on her best day was five foot two. If Seulgi tried to jump she could possibly reach seven feet. Even with Joy they’d never reach it.

“Negative. Too high. Alternate?”

“Well, there’s one in a closet a few corridors away. Ceiling should be low there.”

“Right,” Irene nodded. “Have you followed Wendy’s heat signature? We’re going to need you to find a path for use to get there.”

“Already working on it, noona,” Johnny affirmed. “But I wonder if they haven’t found her earpiece yet…” 

A scream, followed by a whimper answered their question. 

“I...I don’t know,” Wendy’s voice gasped over the radio, “Dr. Bae knew the exact formula. I just assisted.”

"Ugh," Jisoo's voice crackled in the earpiece. She must've still been holding onto Wendy tightly for the mic to pick up her voice. "We should've taken the other girl," she pouted.

There was a small pause, during which Seulgi assumed Jennie was asking something inaudible, like "Why?"

"[Because Seulgi was cuter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-nx0dwhb9o)!" Jisoo whined. "Did you see her cute monolids? She looked like a teddy bear! And her ass! Mmmm..."

Seulgi's ears were aflame. An uncomfortable pause hung in the air, and Seulgi could feel everyone looking at her, but Irene's stare was especially uncomfortable. The woman was glaring at her like she had committed some wildly inappropriate offense, except she wasn't sure what she did wrong.

Thankfully, Joy coughed to break the awkward silence, and reset the group's priorities.

"Um, so we should get Wendy back, right guys?"

"Oh yeah," Yeri affirmed, "and we should also make sure Teddy Bear doesn't get kidnapped." She jerked a thumb towards Seulgi. That earned a small chuckle from everyone, except Irene. The woman was still visibly miffed, but no one was going to prod her and get their head snapped off.

Then, their earpieces crackled, and stole their attention once more.

A loud thump, coupled with a groan, and Seulgi could imagine the punch they put into Wendy’s abdomen, and the young doctor doubling over in pain. Beside her, Seulgi could see Joohyun’s white knuckled fists quivering, and grasped one of them gently, trying to give her some reassurance.

“I really don’t know much of anything,” Wendy panted in between pained breaths. “I don’t know why you would bring me to this twenty by twenty foot room with two doors and minimal lighting and four ventilation ducts. Or why you think you needed to get two more of your cronies in here for back up.”

“Smart girl,” Irene grinned, the fists at her side loosening a little. “She’s telling us about the people who took her.”

Jennie and Jisoo must’ve figured it out as well, because the next noises sounded like Wendy resisting, a lot of scuffling, and then the line went dead.

“They must’ve destroyed her earpiece,” Yeri said. The others agreed.

“We don’t have much time,” Johnny radioed. “They’ll likely try to move her again, so we’ve got to get there as soon as possible. Or…”

“Or?” Seulgi questioned, confused by his sudden pause. She looked at Irene for answers, and found a pair of angry brown eyes looking back.

“Or they might just kill her, knowing she’s no longer of any use,” the doctor growled. 

“Oh,” Seulgi gasped softly. 

“Yeri, get Joy out of here. Without an earpiece, she’s the most at risk,” Irene said sternly. The doctor was clearly all business, quiet rage and cold emanating off her in waves. Seulgi was strangely drawn to it.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I stayed with you, unnie?” Yeri asked. “Seulgi can lead Joy out and I can back you up.”

“Seulgi stays with me,” Irene growled with finality.

The three remaining girls gulped and nodded silently. 

“I’ll come back after I get Joy somewhere safe,” Yeri promised, before disappearing down the corridor with the taller girl.

“Let’s go, Seulgi,” Irene turned, hair whipping around as she pivoted. Seulgi had to jog to catch up.

Johnny directed them down the corridors, to a side broom closet. 

“Okay it looks like the compound is largely abandoned,” his voice crackled through their receivers. “Once you get up into the vent system it’s going to get a little tricky.”

“Right,” Irene responded. With the silent precision and poise, she took apart the cover to the ventilation shaft, simultaneously disabling the alarm system wired to it. Just as the doctor was about to hoist herself into the ceiling, Seulgi quickly grabbed the woman’s hand. Irene looked down at her, irritation and confusion painting her face.

“What is it?”

“Wendy will be okay, I know it.”

“How can you say that?” the doctor retorted angrily. “You don’t know anything about them.”

“But I know you,” Seulgi responded calmly, trying not to suffocate in the tense atmosphere that was all around them. “They need you. They may not need Wendy, but they need you, and the way to get you is through her. So they can’t harm her.”

Irene’s eyes widened, the fist in Seulgi’s grasp relaxing as she realized what the photographer was trying to explain to her.

“To get to you,” Seulgi continued, “they had to take what was most important to you.”

Their gazes locked, and Seulgi held her ground, showing Irene she wasn’t afraid of whatever they would be facing, because they would face it together. She squeezed the hand in her grip a little tighter. The doctor’s eyes softened for a second, before hardening back to ice.

“Well they were wrong,” Irene contemptuously huffed. She wrenched her hand out of Seulgi’s grip and pulled herself into the ceiling without another word. 

Seulgi followed silently, crawling behind Irene in the cramped ducts. Of course she would be having an internal crisis on the status of her romantic life while the health of the entire world hung in the balance. But she was just that kind of person she supposed. She could see the forest from the trees, yet still notice each leaf in the forest. And right now, Joohyun gave her butterflies in her stomach and a traffic jam in her brain.

 _It’s not fair,_ Seulgi wanted to shout. How can this one woman make her feel like she was riding a roller coaster all the time? Why does she give more mixed signals than a dyslexic traffic controller? 

The more she dwelled on it, silently following Joohyun down the dark shafts, the more the frustration built within her. She was so distracted, she didn’t notice that the woman in front of her had stopped, giving herself a faceful of Joohyun’s well-endowed nether region. 

Luckily, Seulgi didn’t let out a squeak of surprise from face-planting into Joohyun’s ass (which was nicely firm, btw). However, the next surprise the universe had in store was a thing for the storybooks, and Seulgi certainly couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

Because through the leggings that Joohyun has been kidnapped in, Seulgi could see the outline of a blue thong, its presence screaming at her in the deathly quiet ventilation duct.

“ _Eep_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, I'm back, apologies for the long hiatus. Regularly scheduled programming should resume, as I don't foresee anything else that should hold up the story. 
> 
> This summer has been SO full of RV content that I'm going to rewrite some parts to fit in some of the newer Kpop developments. Stay safe!


End file.
